Transparent Wings
by Yuki Seki
Summary: Kyoko's life is about to get turned upside down (again). After a break-in at the Darumaya leaves Kyoko with almost nothing and the Princess Rosa stolen, Ren spirits Kyoko away to his apartment to keep her safe. However, it only lasts so long before something happens that may just kick-start Kyoko's career into the fast track. What happens next is anyone's guess. RxK
1. Break In

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hello and welcome to _ **"Transparent Wings". Transparent Wings**_ takes place loosely after Ch. 211 though I'm probably taking a few too many liberties so it may not match up exactly with what's going on currently in the manga (I'm keeping up with that in scanlations and buying volumes as they're released here in the US). Later this story is going to feature some original characters of mine from a completely unrelated series but whose world meshes easily within the world of **_Skip Beat!_** (and anything that takes place in show business in modern Japan *laughs*), but I have worked very hard to make them more background characters because this is a story about Kyoko and Ren not them ^_^ I'll probably talk more about them later once they actually get introduced.

 ** _Skip Beat!_ ** doesn't belong to me, it is the property of Yoshiki Nakamura. This particular storyline, the stuff I make up to go with the story line, and the characters belong to me ^_^

The next update will be July 15, 2015.

Thank you for reading (and reviewing if you get a chance)!

~ Yuki Seki

PS If you're wondering what's going on with my Reborn Future Revised Fics, I'm still writing them-I just need to take a break from the mafia and meddle in show business for a little while *wry smile*

* * *

 _ **Chapter One: Break-In**_

"Where are you?"

Anger hummed under the words and Yashiro glanced up sharply at his client as Ren Tsuruga nodded sharply at whatever the person on the other end of the line said. "Stay there, Mogami-san. I'll come to get you. We're almost done here," he said.

The cell phone was snapped shut and Ren turned his back to the cast and crew for a full thirty seconds before he turned back around with his radiant gentleman's smile in place. Yashiro shuddered back at the brightness of it, whatever Kyoko-chan had to say on the other end of the line had Ren livid.

"Ren…" he began.

"I'll explain after the taping," Ren stated quietly and moved onto the set of the TV program he was being interviewed.

Yashiro paced a bit back and forth as a million possibilities cascaded through his mind. When it came to Kyoko-chan, there were only a few things that would set Ren off enough that he had to work that hard to put his gentleman's smile in place. The interview went smoothly though Yashiro could tell only by his long acquaintance with Ren that Japan's number one leading man was only paying partial attention to what the interviewers were asking. They'd been given the questions well in advance and worked out the answers so Ren had them memorized like lines in a drama.

As soon as his interview concluded, Ren was off the set and barely managed to thank everyone in his usual polite manner before his long legs were eating the distance between them and the exit. Yashiro nearly had to run to keep up with the dark-haired actor. They made it to Ren's car in record time and Ren had the car started and moving before Yashiro had his seatbelt clicked into place.

"Ren, what's going on?" Yashiro asked.

Ren's smiling mask had crumbled immediately once he was in the confines of the car and Yashiro had only seen Ren this furious a few times and he worried that Sho Fuwa had made another appearance and made Kyoko-chan lose her cool.

Ren didn't answer and Yashiro decided to take another track. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"TBM Studios," Ren answered.

Yashiro fell silent unable to ask any more questions as Ren glared out the front window and navigated the streets of Tokyo as quickly as he could, taking corners faster and blowing through a few lights like they didn't exist. Whatever was going on with Kyoko-chan was definitely bringing out the dark Ren that Yashiro had just started learning the depths of.

They arrived at the TV studio and Ren parked, leaving Yashiro to drop money into the parking meter as he headed for the doors. The security guards immediately let him in and Yashiro trailed after Ren, giving an apologetic look to the security guards who looked a bit shell-shocked as Ren blew by them.

"Kyoko-chan…" Hikaru said. "Are you all right?"

"I'm…I'm fine," Kyoko said.

She stood up abruptly and pasted on a brilliant smile—she was starting to pick up more than just a couple of Tsuruga-san's habits.

She turned her head suddenly as a tall form emerged into the hall and her expression shifted as she closed the distance between herself and her senpai. "T-Tsuruga-san…" she began.

"Was anyone hurt?" Ren asked, pausing in front of her.

She shook her head and Ren put an arm around her shoulders to guide her gently towards the door, dropping it almost immediately afterwards, conscious as always of others who would be looking on. Yashiro put himself between the two and the onlookers and watched his client and Kyoko.

"There was some damage to the back door of Darumaya and they said that my room is in shambles," Kyoko replied to Ren's question as they headed out the door.

"Anything taken?" Ren asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but they caused trouble for Taisho and Okamisan, how could I be so irresponsible?" Kyoko near wailed the smile fading as they stepped away from the others' eyes. "I should have found another place and…"

Ren patted her head gently and opened the car door for Kyoko, but Yashiro moved to get into the back seat instead of the chestnut-haired talent. "I'll take the back seat," Yashiro said. "Please take the front Kyoko-chan."

The seat was put back into proper position and Kyoko got in, scooting the seat up as far as possible to leave room for Yashiro's legs. "When did it happen?" Ren asked after getting into the driver's side of the car and shutting the door.

"During the busiest part of the dinner hour," Kyoko said. "Okamisan told me that Taisho had come out to serve some guests and they'd heard a lot of banging upstairs. They didn't worry about it because they thought maybe I'd forgotten something and come back for it. After all the guests were gone they went up to check on things because they hadn't seen me and that's when Taisho saw what happened and Okamisan called me. I was filming so I didn't get the message until afterwards."

"Someone broke into Kyoko-chan's room?" Yashiro gasped.

"I didn't think I had enough notice to have to worry about things and so I haven't really concealed where I live or anything like that," Kyoko said miserably. "Box 'R' doesn't start airing until next week…they're going to throw me out I know it and…"

"Don't worry about that right now, Mogami-san," Ren said quietly, taking his hand off the gear shift for just a moment to squeeze the clenched fist in Kyoko's lap. "Let's go to Darumaya and find out what's going on before you panic."

Kyoko clenched her hands together in her lap as they navigated through the night. Her antenna was starting to go off alerting her to the fact that Tsuruga-san was not as composed as he appeared, but she wasn't sure what exactly he was angry about.

They slipped through the quiet streets and finally Ren pulled up by the backdoor of the restaurant where the owners of Darumaya were waiting for them. Kyoko was out the door before he'd fully turned off the car and was being caught in the comforting embraces of the couple as the tears spilled out. He stepped out of the car and immediately moved out of the view of anyone who would happen to be watching the scene because he didn't want to draw any more attention than the police cars situated outside the restaurant already did.

One of the officers came out of the restaurant and immediately focused on the chestnut-haired girl being hugged by the owners and approached. "Please excuse me, but are you Mogami Kyoko-san?" he asked.

Kyoko took a moment to draw in a deep breath and pulled away reluctantly, scrubbing her tears away and pulling on her acting mask, showing composed features to the officer who'd spoken. "I am," she said.

"I am sorry that this happened to you, but I would ask a favor of you…" he said.

"Yes?" Kyoko said.

"Can you please come up to the rooms with us and tell us what if anything is missing so that we can figure out why your room was the only thing disturbed in the entire establishment," the officer said.

Kyoko nodded slowly and glanced over her shoulder at Ren who was staying just in her sight, but concealing himself in the shadows to keep word of his presence from spreading to the onlookers that were starting to gather. It wouldn't be a good idea for anyone to recognize Ren Tsuruga here at this particular site.

The Taisho and Okamisan seemed to suddenly realize who'd come with Kyoko and Taisho moved to block the view as Okamisan moved to Ren and Yashiro. "Please come inside," she said. "You will be away from prying eyes."

Ren summoned up one of his gentlemanly smiled and bowed thanking her quietly and the two followed her into the restaurant. One of the officers tried to protest, but he took one look at Ren and his eyes widened. "You're…"

"Yes," he agreed.

"Then that girl…?"

"Is my kouhai," Ren said, keeping his voice measured and calm. "I happened to be nearby when she was finishing her job and got the call from the owners, so I offered her a ride."

"Then she's…"

"An LME talent, yes," Yashiro said stepping in between the officer and the actor.

"Would it be possible that…" the officer started. "She's been in something that is well known?"

"She's been in a few roles that may have drawn some attention," Yashiro said, his manager's face was in full force even if he wasn't Kyoko-chan's manager—right now his main purpose was to keep more attention than necessary being put on Kyoko's status.

"OH NO!"

Kyoko's wail came down the stairs and before anyone could intercept him, Ren took the steps two at a time until he came up to the room where Kyoko was kneeling over what looked like a ruffled pink bed. "Mogami-san?" he said.

She turned tear-filled eyes on Ren. "They kidnapped Princess Rosa!"

She prostrated herself in front of him. "Please forgive your worthless kouhai, I left the precious gift you gave me unattended and she's been kidnapped and I—"

"Mogami-san," Ren began, drawing her to her feet and looking down at her. "It's not your fault."

"But—" Kyoko began.

"Shhh…" Ren murmured and pulled her against his chest without thinking, ignoring the startled looks of the police officers going through the room.

Ren's eyes ran over the rest of the room, what looked like two posters were completely shredded and scattered over the floor so that it was impossible to really tell what they once were, the futon was ripped, stuffing scattered over the floor, and make-up was smeared all over the walls. The drawers Kyoko had were opened, clothing pulled from them and tossed around the room, some of the items had a pair of scissors taken to them and were in pieces, but amidst all the destruction Kyoko was concerned about the bauble he'd given her. "Shh...Kyoko…" he whispered not realizing he'd dropped all honorifics, stroking her hair gently.

His gentleman's smile had dissolved as soon as he'd seen the room and the storm clouds gathering on his face had even the officers around them stepping lightly.

Kyoko didn't notice Tsuruga-san's familiar form of address just clung to him tightly as she tried to wrap her mind around everything. The disappearance of the Princess Rosa distressed her most, but the clothing, the cosmetics…there was no way she'd have the money to replace them. Even worse, she didn't have the money to replace the locks that were damaged on the back door of the restaurant or help take any other measures to keep this from happening to Taisho and Okamisan again.

"What or who exactly is 'Princess Rosa', do we have a missing person to report as well?" the officer asked coming up.

"Princess Rosa is a necklace with a pink diamond that she received for her last birthday," Ren explained. "The setting was handmade by Mogami-san."

The officer wrote the information down in his notebook and looked hesitantly up at the actor then at the girl he held against his chest. "I…we need Mogami-san to go through the room thoroughly and see if there is anything else missing beyond the jewelry," he said.

"Mogami-san?" Ren said quietly.

Kyoko squeezed her eyes shut and drew in a deep breath, inhaling Tsuruga-san's familiar scent and felt her mind settle out a little bit. She would have to figure out what to do next soon, but first she had to take care of the current turn of events. "I'm fine, Tsuruga-san, thank you," she finally said pulling back and giving him a smile that could have put one of his to shame.

She turned her attention to the officers and went around the room with them sorting through the destruction and figuring out what was there and what was gone.

Ren pulled back to the edge of the room while Kyoko roamed through the wreckage of what likely amounted to everything she owned. At first he'd thought that the break-in was a product of Kyoko's growing popularity due to her role as Mio, but the destruction was definitely more malicious than a rabid fan finding their idol's home.

He heard a step behind him and glanced back to see Yashiro pushing through the officer's to get to him with his cell phone in a gloved hand. "The President's calling, he said you weren't picking up your cell phone," Yashiro said.

Ren blinked and realized he'd left his cell phone in the car once they'd reached Darumaya and accepted the phone. "This is Tsuruga."

"Ren, what's going on? People at the studio said that Mogami-kun was upset and that you'd shown up to pick her up personally."

Lory Takarada's voice was unusually serious and Ren's hand clenched around the receiver for a moment while he composed his answer. "Someone broke into Mogami-san's room and destroyed almost everything she owned and stole Princess Rosa," he finally reported.

"A fan?" the president asked.

"I…I don't know," Ren replied. "With the destruction, I'm inclined to say no."

"Is Mogami-kun okay?" he asked.

Ren watched Kyoko move around the room for a long moment, he could see that the mask was starting to waver and he hoped that it would be done soon. "So far," he said. "The room won't be livable before the end of tonight though."

"We'll have to find somewhere for her to stay, perhaps Kotonami-san's…" Lory said thoughtfully.

"I'll take her to my apartment tonight," Ren stated. "She can stay in my guest room until we figure something else out."

"Very well," Lory said. "I will see what I can come up with here for a permanent solution."


	2. First Thing in the Morning

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ As promised, chapter two is ready to go! I generally try and stick to the dates I promise my chapters (give or take a day or two taking into consideration RL interferes or technology fails), mostly because if I give myself a deadline it gives me a reason not to procrastinate ^_^

Welcome to chapter two of **_Transparent Wings_** and it is with great fondness I introduce Mia Akizaki (she and her twin brother, Alex, have been muses of mine for going on a decade). I do, however, promise that the main focus will remain on Kyoko and Ren because they're the entire reason for this story of mine. Just as a reference, the Akizaki family as it was created over a decade ago is an extremely wealthy family and is made of of businessmen (and women) and entertainers. Most of the Akizakis have also been blond with gray-green eyes since the beginning (exceptions are the two eldest siblings) which just happens to align with Kyoko's view of fairies (which I found incredibly amusing). I'll probably chat more about them at another date if I feel things need clarification later in the story ^_^

As it stands **Skip Beat!** doesn't belong to me it belongs to the lovely Yoshiki Nakamura-sensei. This particular story line, the original characters I have within the story, and the various things I make up to move the story along (clothing lines, drama series, etc.) are mine.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story (and review if you get a chance)!

Next chapter will drop around July 29, 2015

Regards,

Yuki

PS: This is going to be a "Review for a Review" chapter. What that means is: If you review my chapter (though I would like to require more than a 'Great Chapter, Please Post a new one ASAP' review-please name at least one thing you like (or dislike) about the chapter), I will do my best to either read one of your stories and post a review or, if you don't have any stories up, I will check out a favorite fan fiction of yours and leave a review for that author (same standards apply to the review that I leave that I'm requesting here). Now then, there is a caveat involved; I will pick the story I choose to review for two reasons 1) It has to be something in a fandom I follow and 2) It has to be something that I'm comfortable reading (I have very few squicks when it comes to stories, but the few I have tend to be very hard lines I don't cross). You may offer a suggestion, but I can't promise that will be the one I choose.

I won't be doing this every chapter mostly because of the time it takes to read stories (unfortunately I can't spend all day reading fic no matter how enjoyable it would be as I do have my own writing (you want the next chapter right? ^_^), work, and outside obligations). Once I post the next chapter, the offer will be ended until I post another R4R (review for a review) chapter.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two: First Thing in the Morning**_

It was long past midnight when the police officers were finally satisfied that they had collected all the evidence they could and left the scene. As soon as the last officer was gone, Kyoko's mask crumbled and her knees gave out from under her and the tears started. Ren started across the floor, but was beat by Okamisan who pulled Kyoko into her arms again as the girl began to sob.

There was a touch on his arm and he turned to see Taisho frowning up at him and the older man gestured down the stairs and Ren took the hint. He followed the white-clad man downstairs and they settled at one of the tables while Taisho vanished back into the kitchen and returned with a cup of coffee for the actor and his manager.

Ren settled back to wait, wondering how he was going to explain to the couple that he was going to take Kyoko to his apartment once she was prepared to go.

Kyoko scrubbed the last of her tears away in the bathroom and took a deep breath. She'd collected what pieces of clothing that remained in good enough shape to wear, thankful she'd had both her school uniform and Love Me coverall with her when her room was ransacked—at least she had her proper uniforms for most of what she did. Her fingers went to the place where Princess Rosa rested while she was acting out the part of Natsu and wondered how in the world she was going to continue on with the role without the necklace that had become the trademark of it.

 _Even if a parent has died, don't drop a job. To be able to change your feelings in an instant and get over that makes you a 'pro'._

Tsuruga-san's words from just after her birthday echoed through her mind. She took a deep breath. She was due at the studio for filming the next scenes of Box 'R' in the morning, and if she arrived early she could talk to the director and figure out what to do from there. They couldn't halt filming because Kyoko had been foolish enough to leave the necklace to be stolen.

Belatedly, she realized that she hadn't told Tsuruga-san good-bye and automatically assumed that he was already gone because he undoubtedly had a busy schedule in the morning. She went for her bag and pulled the cell phone out, drawing Okamisan's questioning look. "I want to leave a message for Tsuruga-san to thank him for coming with me…" she explained.

"He's still downstairs, Kyoko-chan," Okamisan said with a slight smile. "He is likely waiting for you."

Kyoko's eyes went wide and she flew down the stairs and skidded to a halt in the middle of the room where the owners and she usually took their meals. Sure enough, Tsuruga-san was sitting at the table calmly sipping coffee and Yashiro-san was also waiting. She immediately bowed low in front of them. "Thank you for coming with me, but Tsuruga-san is probably very busy in the morning and should be going home," she said. "I'll be fine. I—"

Ren stood up as she bowed and shook his head a bit at her words. "You're not staying here tonight, Mogami-san," he said quietly. "There have been other arrangements made for the time being."

"What…I—" Kyoko began.

Ren shook his head and moved to where Kyoko was standing and reached out and ruffled her hair. "Do you think we could let you stay in a room like that tonight, Mogami-san?" he questioned.

Kyoko wanted to protest, she didn't want to make more trouble for everyone, but something in Tsuruga-san's gaze told her that she wasn't going to get very far arguing tonight. "O-okay," she said hesitantly.

"Go get your things, we'll head out as soon as you're ready," Ren said.

He watched her go for a long moment and heard the rustle as Yashiro gathered his things. He headed towards the back door where he'd parked his car and found the Taisho working on installing new locks on the doors. The older man looked up at Ren when he entered and Ren spoke. "We'll be taking her somewhere else for tonight provided by LME."

Taisho nodded. "I will check the cost of a security system," he said gruffly.

Ren barely stopped himself from informing Taisho that if he had his say, Kyoko would not be returning to live here again on a permanent basis. He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jacket as he heard footsteps on the stairs that preceded Kyoko's appearance. When she reached the bottom of the steps she nearly prostrated herself in front of Taisho brimming over with apologies for troubling him and was silenced by a dark scowl. "Not your fault," he said. "We will handle this. You try and rest tonight."

Kyoko's eyes filled again and she bowed deeply to him, the words of thanks barely audible.

Ren guided Kyoko out to his car and Yashiro took the front seat this time while Kyoko settled in the back. Ren watched her through the rearview mirror, wishing he could find a way to make her smile again tonight, but even the fairy prince Corn might have trouble with that this evening.

"Kyoko-chan, what's your schedule look like tomorrow?" Yashiro asked.

Kyoko was jarred out of her contemplations of the buildings passing by and scrambled for the planner she kept in her bag that she listed her schedule in since she had to keep track of it for herself mostly. "We're filming Box 'R' tomorrow at eight then I was going to go to school for a few hours after that and then Sawara-san had some jobs he wanted to discuss with me in the afternoon around three. I was going to work the dinner shift tomorrow night at Darumaya," she replied. "I need to try and get to the set early for Box 'R' because the Princess Rosa is gone and I need to talk to the director about what we need to do. It's Natsu's trademark…oh no, the cosmetics…"

Yashiro aligned Kyoko's schedule with Ren's and nodded to himself. "We can drop you off at the Box 'R' set on the way to Ren's first job in the morning and I'm sure that the President will be willing to provide transportation to school…"

"No! I can't trouble you any further, I—"

"Mogami-san."

Ren's voice cut Kyoko off midsentence and her eyes flashed to the dark-haired man who turned to look at her as they stopped at a red light. "It would cause more worry if you don't accept the rides tomorrow," Ren said. "There's no telling who did that to your room and there is a possibility they could come after you directly…"

Kyoko still looked like she wanted to protest, but finally she sighed and dropped her eyes to the fingers twisting nervously in her lap. "Okay, just for tomorrow though…I'll be fine, really."

Ren's jaw clenched against the urge to tell her that he wouldn't be fine and if he could do it, he would clear his schedule entirely to make sure that Kyoko was being taken care of the entire time. Yashiro seemed to read his expression and shook his head, silently reinforcing the fact that he couldn't just blow off everything tomorrow to watch over Kyoko.

They finally reached one of the high rise apartment complexes and Yashiro gathered his things and opened the door. "I'll see you at six-thirty tomorrow?" he asked. "Your first job starts at eight AM."

"I'll be here," Ren said and Yashiro nodded and exited.

After a moment's hesitation Kyoko got out of the back seat and moved to claim the front seat as Yashiro entered the building. She fastened her seatbelt and Ren moved the car back into the street.

Kyoko didn't ask any questions, figuring that Ren would take her where she needed to go and was left speechless as he pulled into the parking garage in his own apartment complex. "Tsuruga-san…" she began.

"You'll stay in my guestroom tonight," Ren said.

"But won't that be troublesome?" Kyoko questioned. "I mean I—"

"Mogami-san, if I had to worry about where you were staying tonight it would be more troublesome," Ren stated flatly. "Please, humor me?"

"O-okay."

A rather large chunk of Kyoko was absurdly relieved to be staying in a familiar place after the nightmare that had made up this night after _Yappa Kimagure Rock_ wrapped the night's show.

Kyoko woke from a nightmare just before 4:30 AM and tossed and turned for a few minutes before deciding to get up. For Tsuruga-san's kindness the least she could do was make him a proper breakfast and maybe a lunch to accompany him on his work today. She dressed in her Love Me coverall and headed for the kitchen after pulling her hair back into a quick ponytail, realizing it was starting to get long enough to pull back again. She went through Tsuruga-san's kitchen and found many of the ingredients she needed for the food already and breathed a sigh of relief; it would be difficult to procure supplies at this time of morning.

Ren emerged from his bedroom dressed in a robe and slippers and watched Kyoko for a long moment. "Did you sleep at all last night, Mogami-san?" he asked.

Kyoko jumped as his words echoed and she turned, pasting on a smile that Ren saw right through, but decided to let her think she'd fooled him for now. "A bit," she said. "If time permits I'll catch a nap between school and meeting with Sawara-san."

"You didn't have to get up to cook, we could have picked something up—" Ren began and then fell silent under Kyoko's glare.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I'll go get ready then," he said.

He retreated to his room to take a shower and get ready to go for the day. He knew he had two photo shoots, a meeting with two producers for upcoming commercials, and a few scripts to look over to pick his next project now that _Tragic Marker_ had wrapped up. The plan was to let Cain Heel fade into blackness now that the filming was over, but Ren wasn't entirely sure that would work out, but that wasn't his worry right now.

Kyoko got breakfast on the table and wrapped the bentos for Ren and Yashiro's lunches. Once Ren emerged they settled at his dining table and ate, both of them staying away from the topic of last night's break-in for the time being. The enormity of what happened was starting to crash down on Kyoko, but she couldn't trouble Ren with it further so she purposely kept the topics light.

At six, the two headed down to the garage and Kyoko climbed into the passenger seat and took a deep breath. She'd see about taming her hair into Natsu's preferred style and figure out the cosmetics once she was in the dressing rooms on the Box 'R' set. They arrived at Yashiro's apartment just as the manager emerged, already in deep conversation on his cell phone.

Kyoko moved to the back seat automatically and Yashiro finished his conversation before snapping his phone shut and getting in the car. "Good morning Kyoko-chan, Ren."

"Good morning," Ren greeted him and Kyoko echoed the greeting bowing as much as she could from her position in the back seat.

Kyoko gave Ren directions to the studio where she was filming Box 'R' and they pulled up to the back entrance where no one would be able to recognize the car or its driver when Kyoko got out. She thanked them for the ride and bowed deeply before settling her bag and squaring her shoulders before heading in to talk to Anna-san about what to do about the necklace.

The director was already there as she'd hoped and seemed surprised at her early arrival. "What's going on Kyoko-chan?" he asked.

She took a deep breath and explained the events of the night before in a halting voice, being stopped from apologizing by the director's hand on her shoulder. "We'll draw some references from the earlier filming and we'll see about creating a replica of the necklace for the remainder of the filming," he said. "More importantly, are you going to be okay?"

Kyoko nodded firmly. "I'll be fine once the cameras are rolling," she said quietly.

"Good girl, head for your dressing room. Wardrobe and makeup will be along shortly. We'll film the scenes so the necklace isn't visible for now until we can get the replica made. Let's have a good filming day," he said.

She headed for her dressing room.

"Good work today!"

The greeting followed Kyoko out the door and she managed to keep a smile in place even though as the morning wore on her nerves were getting more frayed. She'd already changed into her school uniform and exited the studio getting ready to head for school, forgetting that Tsuruga-san had said something about LME providing her with transportation.

"Mogami-san!"

The voice was light and Kyoko turned to see a blond girl just a little taller than her approaching. "May I help you?" she asked guardedly.

The girl smiled and it swam across Kyoko's mind that the girl could be a fairy from the same world at Corn. She had long blond hair pulled back on the sides with barrettes and clear gray-green eyes regarded her calmly. Her face was fine-featured and the subtle make-up created a light shimmer in the sunlight. "I'm Mia Akizaki, I was appointed from LME Entertainment to help you today," she introduced herself handing Kyoko a business card to validate her claim. "Takarada-taichou asked me to pick you up from here and take you to school."

"Ah…um…thank you very much," Kyoko said with a bow.

Mia returned the bow with equal grace and Kyoko followed her to the four-door sedan that waited for them on the curb. Mia opened the door for her and she slipped into the back seat and then went around the front and climbed into the driver's seat.

"You can drive?" Kyoko gaped, she'd pegged Mia to be her age or younger.

"I spent a lot of time in America, I learned to drive when I was sixteen, so it was a fairly easy matter to get my license here in Japan as soon as I was able," Mia replied. "It wouldn't do to be your escort if I couldn't drive you, would it Mogami-san?"

"Ah…no," Kyoko said.

"According to Sawara-san you will be at school until about 1:00 PM and then you will need to be picked up to go to the agency for your meeting with Sawara-san at 4:00 PM?" Mia questioned.

"Yes, that's what I have written down," Kyoko said.

"All right," Mia said and turned her attention to the road. "Sawara-san gave me directions to your school so I should be able to navigate there from here easily."

She slipped on a pair of sunglasses and started the car, pulling out into traffic and making her way to the school.

Kyoko fell silent, uncertain if she would be at liberty to talk to the girl while she was driving or not and fell into a heavy silence. "Akizaki-san, this is just for today right?" she finally asked. "I really will be fine…"

"It is up to Takarada-taichou and Sawara-san," Mia replied. "I just started working with LME Entertainment in conjunction with DS Entertainment as our agency is currently very small and overstaffed."

"So today is your first day?" she asked.

"Something like that, thus I was free to be of assistance to Mogami-san in light of what happened last night," Mia said.

"Y-you know?" Kyoko gaped.

"Yes, Sawara-san told me about it this morning when he handed me my assignment. I am very sorry that something like that happened to you, Mogami-san, but I'm sure everything will be okay soon," Mia assured her.

They pulled up to the school and Kyoko was out of the car before Mia could come around and let her out. "I…thank you, Akizaki-san," Kyoko said and bowed.

"It was my pleasure, I will be back here at 1:00 PM to get you," Mia smiled.

Kyoko headed into school and forced herself to focus on her lessons as she would be graduating next spring and she wanted to make sure she got good marks. The conversation swirled around her, but, as usual, no one really spoke to her at school. She hadn't really managed to make any friends but Moko-san and Moko didn't go to school with her. She ate her bento and pulled out the books she needed to study to make sure she was caught up on everything that had been covered while she was in Guam for the last days of _Tragic Marker_ and the Heel Siblings.

Her phone rang in the middle of lunch and she pulled it out and answered it immediately. "Good afternoon, Mogami-san, is everything all right?"

She relaxed a bit as Tsuruga-san's voice came over the line and rose from her desk to go outside. "I'm doing okay, Tsuruga-san, the director said that they'll see about making a replica of the Princess Rosa for the remainder of Box 'R'. I was worried that he would fire me for losing something so important."

"Mogami-san, what happened last night _was not_ your fault."

Kyoko's hands tightened on the receiver. "But—if I'd…"

"A break-in like that is not something that you can predict and it lies on the shoulders of whomever decided to do it, not the person it was done to. Remember that."

"I-I'll try," Kyoko said hesitantly.

"Did you get a ride from the studio to school?"

"Y-yes, the president sent someone to escort me today. She's very nice," Kyoko said. "She looks like a fairy…"

"Oh does she? Tell me more."

She could hear the smile in Tsuruga-san's voice and allowed herself to drift off into the fairy-tale land that she knew so well for the few minutes that she was able to speak with him.


	3. A New Stage

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ Hi there and welcome to chapter three!

I love how many different theories all of you lovely readers are coming up with for where and how the story is going to go. I hope you won't be too terribly disappointed at the revelations in this chapters. I don't have a whole lot more to say, so I hope you'll read and enjoy this chapter as well.

As always **_Skip Beat!_ ** is the product of Yoshiki Nakamura's imagination not mine, but the story line and original characters in this story belong to me.

Thank you for reading (and reviewing if you have a chance) this chapter and I hope you'll continue to stick with me until the end.

Next update will be around August 12, 2015 ^_^

Please look forward to it ^_^

~ Yuki

PS: I will be getting to stories and reviewing them over the next couple weeks...these past couple weeks have not been conducive to reading fic. But the next weeks should slow down nicely ^_^

* * *

 _ **Chapter Three: A New Stage**_

Kyoko was roused by a knock on the door to the Love Me section of LME Entertainment and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as a blond head poked into the room. "Mogami-san? Are you awake?"

It was Akizaki-san's voice and Kyoko was immediately awake. "Yes?" she said.

"Sawara-san apologizes for the delay, but he's ready to meet with you now."

Kyoko rose from the couch she'd dozed off on and stopped at the mirror to check over her hair, momentarily regretting the loss of the make-up—even the dollar store variety she'd taken to wearing most of the time. Without the cosmetics she looked even plainer than usual and the previous night's losses hit her yet again and her breath caught. She fought off the tears that threatened and pulled her professional mask into place then exited the office to find Mia waiting for her still.

"You didn't have to wait for me, I'm sure you have other things to do…" Kyoko said.

Akizaki-san simply smiled and led the way to Sawara's desk.

"Mogami-san, are you all right?"

The question was the first thing out of Sawara-san's mouth and Kyoko managed to pull up a smile for him. "I'm fine, Sawara-san," she said. "You said you had some important matters to meet up with me about?"

"Ah, yes, first, I assume you've met Akizaki Mia-san?" Takenori Sawara said, gesturing at the blond girl who stood casually next to his desk.

"Yes, she's been kind enough to help me out today to make sure I get everywhere all right," Kyoko said. "Thank you Akizaki-san."

"It was my pleasure," Mia smiled.

"Ah good, I'm glad to see you two are getting along well, it will become important to your future, Mogami-san," Sawara said.

"Huh?" Kyoko looked at him blankly.

"Your workload is starting to exceed what I can easily handle along with my other duties in the Talent Section and the other Love Me members, so it has been decided from today on, you will be under Akizaki-san's care," Sawara said.

"What?" Kyoko's voice cracked.

Mia smiled and bowed deeply. "From today on, please treat me kindly, Mogami-san," she said. "I look forward to working with you."

"But—" Kyoko began. "I'm not—"

Sawara produced a rather large stack of scripts and dropped them on his desk cutting Kyoko's words off. "These are the proposals for you that have come in just in the past week, Mogami-san," he informed her. "I can't go through them and help with Kotonami-san and take care of my duties as the head of the Talent Section. The president has decided that it is time for you to have a manager."

The blond woman moved around the desk and collected the scripts and proposals and smiled at Kyoko. "Please accompany me, Mogami-san, we'll use the Love Me Division's room for now as you've not completely graduated from there yet."

Kyoko looked at Sawara, completely at a loss and the Talent Head smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Good luck, Mogami-san."

Kyoko trailed after Akizaki-san uncertainly as they made their way through the agency to the Love Me Division's room.

"Akizaki-san…" Kyoko began.

"Please call me Mia," the blond woman requested. "It's less of a mouthful for you and we'll be working very closely together from here on out."

"A-all right, Mia-san," Kyoko said.

Mia laughed softly. "No suffix is necessary Mogami-san," she said. "I promise my sensibilities won't be offended if you just call me by my first name."

Kyoko felt herself flush a bit under the other woman's amusement and drew herself up to say something, but was sidetracked when they opened the door to the Love Me Section.

"Moko-sa~an!"

The dark-haired actress barely dodged Kyoko's hug and turned a suspicious look on the blond girl who'd followed her in. "Who are you?" she demanded, putting herself protectively in front of Kyoko.

"Moko-san, this is Akizaki Mia-san," Kyoko said slowly. "Sawara-san says that she's my manager as of today…"

"Wha~at?' Moko's eyes went wide. "Your work load's grown that much?"

"I—" Kyoko began, worry gnawing at her insides when she remembered how Moko reacted after their stint at the actor's school.

"There are other concerns on Mogami-san's behalf besides her work load," Mia stated calmly and bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Kotonami-san. Mogami-san, you have about thirty minutes before we have to starting going through these. Please use that time wisely. I will be over there not listening to your conversation as I sort through these."

Kyoko heard the unspoken order to confide in Moko-san about what had happened the night before and hesitated. She didn't want to trouble Moko-san with her problems, but…

" _I will not speak to you until this time next year if you don't explain your relationship with Sho Fuwa."_

"Moko-san…"

Sudden tears welled up in Kyoko's eyes and her legs gave out beneath her and she collapsed onto a bench.

Moko's face transformed from shock into fury as Kyoko explained what had happened the night before to her in excruciating detail. Instinctively, the dark-haired actress wrapped her arms around her best friend and hugged her gently as she cried, knowing that no one would be coming into the Love Me Section to see the scene. As Kyoko began to bemoan the fact that she caused so much trouble for everyone, Moko quietly cut her off. "I don't care what you think you 'allowed' to happen and I'm sure that Tsuruga-san and the owners of the Darumaya don't care either. Did it occur to you that something much worse could have happened if you'd been in the room at that time?" Moko demanded quietly, her voice trembled with barely suppressed rage.

Kyoko's eyes flew up to meet hers and Moko regarded her calmly. "If you'd like you can come stay—"

Kyoko shook her head furiously. "What happens if they find out I'm at Moko-san's place, what if they come back and do something horrible! I can't do that to Moko-san—I'll…"

Moko scowled at her friend, floundering for reasons that Kyoko would accept for why she should move in with her for a short time and came up with nothing.

"Please do not worry about Mogami-san's accommodations."

Mia's voice broke into their conversation and the two girls looked at the blond sharply. While going over the scripts, Mia had put on a pair of tortoise-shell glasses and she pulled them off as they regarded her. "I apologize, but I couldn't help hearing that part of the conversation. I assure you Kotonami-san, Mogami-san's safety and the safety of the owners of the Darumaya are our top priority currently," Mia said. "She will be kept safe, I guarantee it."

Moko looked like she wanted to say more but an alarm went off and she pulled out her phone. "I have to go, I have a job I need to get to," she said reluctantly. "We'll get together soon, okay, Kyoko?"

"Okay," Kyoko smiled tearfully.

After Moko-san left, Kyoko turned to her manager—the thought still seemed strange to her—and Mia gestured her over. "Please, come sit down and we will discuss these proposals and also your schedule for tomorrow," Mia said. "I took the liberty of acquiring the schedule for the Box 'R' shooting from Anna-san so I've already figured that into your schedule until the end of shooting. I've also figured in your regular spot on _Yappa Kimagure Rock_ , so you needn't worry about that either."

Kyoko nodded slowly and settled down with Mia and the two put their heads together and talked about each of the proposals. The drama offers were for more villainous roles and Kyoko reluctantly decided to consider them, but she'd have to choose which ones suited her best.

"As time progresses, Mogami-san, I will see that you get more than just these kind of roles offered to you," Mia said. "For now though, we will work with them. While you are busy filming tomorrow since you don't need a constant companion yet, I will be out hunting up leads for other jobs for you so that we can expand your portfolio."

"Okay," Kyoko said.

"Also, the day after tomorrow, your schedule is fairly clear so we will be taking care of some other things," Mia said.

"What are we doing?" Kyoko asked.

"You'll see," Mia smiled. "Since I am your manager there are certain things that I need to take care of so that we can get you out there further so that you may attain your goal of becoming a first-class actress and surpassing Sho Fuwa in your own way."

Kyoko's eyes flew open wide and she immediately clamped down on the grudge at the mention of the singer's name and regarded the blond girl fearfully. "I…"

"I watched all of your auditions leading up to your acceptance into the Love Me division of LME including your reasons for getting into show business itself. I have watched everything you've been a part of for the past year including the screen tests with Choko, most of the _Kimagure Rock_ episodes that Bo shows up in, the Curara commercial, Sho Fuwa's 'Prisoner' PV, Dark Moon, and advance screenings of completed episodes of Box 'R' over the past week or so," Mia said. "I don't know why you are so focused on eclipsing Sho Fuwa, but I will help you in your ambition to do so. However, Mogami-san, you will have to be willing to work with me no matter what."

Kyoko hesitated caught up in the serious gaze of the woman who was now her manager and her breath caught. "I—" she started.

Mia smiled. "I won't make you do anything that goes against your nature Mogami-san, but I will challenge you. Please be ready."

"Y-yes…" Kyoko managed.

There was a knock on the door and it opened admitting Yashiro and Ren Tsuruga.

"Tsuruga-san, Yashiro-san?" Kyoko frowned. "What…"

"Are you done for the day, Kyoko-chan?" Yashiro inquired.

Kyoko glanced at Mia in question and the blond girl smiled and rose gracefully from her seat. "Yes, we are done for now, Mogami-san, I will pick you up tomorrow morning to get you to school and then to the shoot for Box 'R'. Your schedule for tomorrow is pretty easy, but that will not last long, I promise."

Kyoko swallowed and nodded slowly.

Ren's dark eyes went to the blond girl suspiciously, but she simply smiled and bowed to both of them. "Good evening, I am Akizaki Mia. I have been appointed as Mogami-san's manager as of today," she said. "Please treat me kindly."

"Kyoko-chan has a manager?" Yashiro gasped.

"It was deemed necessary under the current circumstances," Mia said. "Mogami-san's work load is about to increase. Please watch her transformation."

Mia seemed to glide out of the room leaving Kyoko to face Ren and Yashiro. "Are you done for the day as well, Tsuruga-san?" she asked.

"Yes, they canceled one of the meetings that we had this evening," Ren said.

"I see," Kyoko said. "I'm sorry to trouble you, Tsuruga-san…"

Ren moved forward of his own accord and gently forced Kyoko to look up at him. "You aren't troubling me, Mogami-san," he said quietly. "Shall we?"

"Where are we going?" Kyoko asked curiously.

"Home," Ren said.

"What?" Kyoko gaped.

"You'll be staying with me for a while, Mogami-san," Ren said. "It's the president's orders."

"What?!"

Kyoko's eyes shot to Yashiro and Ren's manager nodded in confirmation.


	4. Brand New Morning

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ It's that time again, another update for you my lovely readers.

Today's update is kinda long though my chapters for this one (so far) seem to fluctuate between 1500-4000 words ^^;

Skip Beat! belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura. The original characters and the stuff created for this storyline of mine belong to me.

Thank you kindly for your reviews and kind words, I hope you continue to enjoy my story.

Thank you for reading (and reviewing) if you get a chance.

Next update drops: August 26th

* * *

 _ **Chapter Four: Brand New Morning**_

Kyoko's phone rang as the morning session of school finished and she picked it up frowning a bit as it was a number that she didn't recognize, but it wasn't an unknown number for which she was thankful, she didn't think she could deal with Shotaro today on top of everything else. She shook her head and managed to pick up the call just before it went to voice mail and relaxed as Mia Akizaki's voice came over the line. "Good morning, Mogami-san, I am waiting in the car for you outside if you would kindly join me?"

"On my way," Kyoko said and gathered her things. "I—"

"I have various items that you require for today's filming session as well as a lunch for you to eat on the way to the studio," Mia said. "I've also selected a few scripts from yesterday's pile and one that came in for you today for you to look over on the commute."

"Th-thank you," she said and hung up the phone.

Several eyes were on Mia who was leaning against the sedan as she spoke on the pale pink cell phone, gray green eyes intent on the gates of the school. As soon as Kyoko came into view she finished her conversation and moved to the back door of the car and opened it. "Thank you for being timely, Mogami-san," she said.

"I will have a record like Tsuruga-san and _never_ be late," Kyoko vowed.

Mia chuckled, a smile breaking through her professional mask for a moment. "I shall do my best to insure that becomes the case, Mogami-san."

Kyoko stared at the bags sitting on the back seat next to the neatly wrapped bento box. One was from a well-known jeweler and the other from a high end department store. "The replica of Princess Rosa is ready and in the white bag. From what I understand your cosmetics were amongst the things destroyed in the break in, so I took the liberty of acquiring more for you."

"But—I…" Kyoko began, pulling the cosmetics out of the bag and staring at the designer brand.

"You know what one of my duties as your manager is, Mogami-san?" Mia asked, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

"Helping me keep track of my schedule and making sure I have food?" Kyoko replied, though it was more of a question than anything else.

"It is also my duty to ensure that you have everything you need for your jobs at your disposal and cosmetics are amongst those things, yes?" Mia queried.

"Well, yes, but mine weren't…" Kyoko started.

"Mogami-san, you aim to be a first rate actress yes? To eclipse Sho Fuwa and act on the same ground as Ren Tsuruga, correct?" Mia said.

"Yes," Kyoko said slowly.

"Then you must have the proper weapons to continue your assault on the show biz world," Mia said. "This is one of many things that as your manager I will help you with."

"But…"

"Please eat your lunch and consult the scripts for now, Mogami-san," Mia requested. "We will be heading for the studio now."

"Yes, ma'am," Kyoko automatically replied and dutifully picked up the lunch and opened it.

Her eyes went wide. It wasn't a store-bought bento and it held many of her favorite Japanese foods. "I hope I selected the menu appropriately, I only had a few people I could contact to make sure I made things you liked," Mia said. "When we meet tomorrow, I will be thorough in my questions to make sure I know what Mogami-san prefers."

"You made this?" Kyoko gaped.

"Of course," Mia said. "It's far better when things are homemade and I can insure that there's a proper nutritional balance to the meal."

"I'm so sorry for troubling you, Mia, I—"

"It isn't that much more to expand from making two lunches to three as necessary," Mia interrupted. "I usually make lunch for my brother and myself before I leave or he doesn't eat properly."

"You have a brother?" Kyoko asked in surprise, breaking the disposable chopsticks apart and picking up the first item and plopping it in her mouth.

"I have an older brother, two older sisters, and a younger brother," Mia replied. "Is the food to your liking?"

Kyoko cleared her mouth and nodded vehemently. "It's delicious, do you think you can share your recipe for this?" she asked.

"If you'd like," Mia laughed.

"Yes, please!" Kyoko exclaimed.

She finished her lunch while reading through the scripts. Mia had already marked the pages where the character that was being proposed for her had lines making it easier to focus on those. It was an odd feeling going through scripts while being driven to a film shoot and made Kyoko feel like a real actress and it was oddly relaxing in its own way.

They arrived at the studio and Mia parked the car in the garage and moved around to let Kyoko out. Mia collected Kyoko's bag before the girl could protest and the two made their way to the studio. "After filming wraps tonight, we'll head to the family restaurant you prefer for a hamburger with a fried egg," Mia said and Kyoko's eyes went wide. "We'll likely be discussing some of those scripts while we eat before I take you back to the place you're staying. There are also a couple commercial auditions coming up that I think would suit you and we can fit them in between what you've already got down."

The Box 'R' set was already buzzing and one of the security guards moved to intercept Mia, but Kyoko explained that she was her manager and they pulled back.

"You have a manager now, Kyoko-san?" Chiori Amamiya asked.

"As of yesterday," Kyoko mumbled.

"Does that mean you will no longer be in the Love Me Section?" Chiori asked.

"No, I'm still a member of the Love Me section. I'll be there tomorrow afternoon," Kyoko said. "Akizaki-san, this is Amamiya Chiori-san. Amamiya-san, Akizaki Mia-san."

Mia bowed to the girl politely and then urged Kyoko towards her dressing room. Kyoko ducked into the room with the jeweler's bag and the cosmetics and Mia went to look for the director to talk with him about some other matters.

Kyoko felt a sense of loss when she pulled the Princess Rosa replica out of the bag, it was missing the quirks of her homemade setting and it didn't have the added meaning of it being a gift from Tsuruga-san. It felt foreign to her when she clasped it around her neck, but once she added Natsu's school uniform and fixed everything into Natsu's look it would definitely fool the viewers of the program. Her mind shifted over into Natsu gear and she swept out of the dressing room and to the set. Today would mark the beginning of the end of the drama and Kyoko wondered what she would be doing next.

Mia's cell phone vibrated as she watched her new client in action and she slipped out of the room and pulled it out. "This is Akizaki," she said.

"Hiya Mi'!"

Mia couldn't help but smile as she recognized her twin brother's cheerful voice. "Hi 'Lex," she said. "I'm at work right now so I can't really talk."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot that your contract with LME started already," Alex Akizaki said. "I'll talk to you when you get home tonight then."

"I'll be late," Mia warned him.

"I've got spaghetti going and I'll be practicing most of the evening, we'll be laying down some new track tomorrow and I have to get my section right," Alex said. "Pretty sure I'll be up to greet you when you get home."

"All right," Mia smiled. "Bye 'Lex."

"Bye Mi'. Love you!"

The phone line disconnected and before she could return to the set her phone lit up again, this time with an unfamiliar number. "This is Akizaki."

"Good evening, Akizaki-san."

It took her a moment, but then she recognized Yukihito Yashiro's voice. "Good afternoon, Yashiro-san," she greeted.

"I was calling to confirm Kyoko-chan's schedule for tonight," Yashiro said. "About what time do you think you'll be dropping her by Ren's place?"

"What time is he due home?" Mia asked. "I'll drop her off around then so that she's not left alone for too long. I am in process of finding new accommodations for Mogami-san."

"We should be heading back that way around ten or so as long as everything goes smoothly here," Yashiro informed her.

"Then I'll bring Mogami-san by around 10:30 PM. Will that work?" Mia asked.

There was a flip of pages on the other line and a brief consultation that Mia couldn't quite make out. "That should be sufficient," the other manager said.

"Then we'll see you then," Mia said and hung up after politely closing the call.

Ren scowled a bit as Yashiro hung up and put the phone in his pocket. "Kyoko-chan is in safe hands, Ren," Yashiro said. "I took the liberty of having Akizaki-san investigated when we found out that she was going to be Kyoko-chan's manager. I'll have a report for you tomorrow because I know you'll worry until you see it for yourself. But the President himself assigned Akizaki-san to Kyoko-chan so you know that she should be safe."

Ren nodded curtly and his fingers clenched around his own phone as he felt the need to call Kyoko and make sure she was all right for himself. He'd heard the comment about new accommodations and it didn't sit well with him. He didn't like the idea of Kyoko being somewhere he couldn't find her easily if he needed to. Until the mystery of why her room had been destroyed so thoroughly and the person behind it caught, he was uneasy about her sleeping anywhere but at his apartment.

"Cut."

Kyoko snapped out of Natsu as the clapperboard clicked and she stretched.

"Good work today," Director Anna said.

Kyoko bowed and returned the greeting and headed for her dressing room. She chatted with her cast mates a bit and then took her leave to go change clothes. She entered the dressing room and saw that something other than her Love Me coveralls had been brought into the room. It was a pair of jeans and a cute ruffled shirt and a jacket along with a pair of ankle boots she'd been eyeing longingly for some time. She hesitated for a moment, her fingers going to the material uncertainly. Obviously it was intended for her to wear now and so she changed clothes and stepped out to find Mia waiting for her.

"The clothes…thank you," she said.

"It wouldn't do for you to have to run around all the time in your Love Me coverall," Mia smiled. "It draws more attention than we want to right now. Shall we go?"

"Okay," Kyoko said.

"Tomorrow, you will not be attending school. We have an appointment at 8:30 AM, two meetings, one at 1:30 PM and another at 4:00 PM, a tour of a couple apartments in between the meetings, some things to take care of in the afternoon, and a dinner meeting with Director Kurosaki in the evening," Mia said. "He requested you specifically for a new commercial he is planning."

"What do you mean a tour of a couple apartments?" Kyoko asked.

"We cannot continue to trouble Tsuruga-san and Takarada-taichou worries about you if you return to Darumaya. He requested that I contact a realtor of his acquaintance about finding suitable accommodations for you," Mia said.

"But, I—" Kyoko started.

"Trust me, Mogami-san," Mia said gently.

"O-okay."

They headed for the car and Mia opened the door for her and then headed to the driver's seat. Her manager pulled away from the curb and they headed into the Tokyo night, stopping at a familiar family restaurant and Kyoko smiled delightedly as they were directed to a table. She made her order immediately and Mia ordered a salad and they settled down to eat. Suddenly it occurred to Kyoko that someone was going to have to pay for it and she scrambled for her wallet.

"Don't worry about it, it's my job to make sure you're fed, Mogami-san," Mia said.

"But—"

Mia held up a finger to silence her and shook her head, a smile playing on her pink-glossed lips. "Don't argue with me, Mogami-san, you will lose," she said.

Kyoko fell silent and when the food arrived she attacked it with gusto though she realized she really should be more careful of what she ate, but the hamburger sounded so good tonight…

After they finished their meal, she and Mia returned to LME and slipped into the quiet of the Love Me section and discussed the various options that were presented to Kyoko. Kyoko also accepted a list of auditions that Mia had found while she was working and she sorted through them. Mia pointed out various commercials that would work well for her and they narrowed down the roles that were being offered to her to four. An alarm went off and Mia pulled out her cell phone and nodded before rising.

"I think we're done here tonight, Mogami-san," she said. "I will call the others in regards to these scripts and turn them down kindly. Tomorrow morning before I pick you up please take some time to go over the ones that you've chosen. I'm not sure we'll be able to fit all four into your schedule along with everything else—so please be sure to figure out an order of preference."

"All right," Kyoko said. "Tomorrow…what should I wear?"

"Even though you won't be attending school in the morning, your school uniform should be fine, Mogami-san," Mia said. "Please be ready by 8:00 AM."

Kyoko nodded and looked at the car. "Would it be possible to sit up front, Akizaki-san? I feel strange riding in the back all the time."

"If you'd like Mogami-san," Mia said.

Kyoko moved to the other door quickly and looked at Mia over the top of the car. "I can open it myself," she said.

Mia laughed and unlocked the car and they slipped into the interior.

Ren paced back and forth in his apartment, his eyes going to the clock. It was nearly a quarter to eleven and Kyoko's manager had said she'd bring her by at 10:30 PM. His fingers twitched towards his phone, but he forced himself to stop before actually placing a call to Kyoko to find out where she was.

There was a buzz on the intercom moments later and he went to it and relaxed when Kyoko's voice came over the speaker. He quickly went to greet her and let her through the secured gate and was surprised at her clothing. "Is something wrong?" Kyoko asked uncertainly.

Ren shook his head. "The outfit is cute," he said off-handedly and he could almost hear Kyoko's face explode into color.

He spared a glanced over his shoulder and concealed a smile. "You're running a bit later than Akizaki-san said that you would be," he noted.

"We got caught up in a discussion outside in the car, we were here at 10:30 as Mia promised. It's my fault, I'm sorry Tsuruga-san," she said stopping and bowing.

"Oh is something interesting going on?" he asked.

"I…well…" Kyoko began.

He chuckled as she clutched her bag for a moment. "Why don't we go inside and have some tea and you can tell me all about it?" he suggested with a smile.

Kyoko's face lit up in a smile that made Ren's heart skip a beat and he forced down the desire to haul her into his arms for a tight hug and/or a welcome home kiss. Having Kyoko coming home to his apartment was something Ren wasn't entirely sure was wise, but he was enjoying the thought that he would at least have an opportunity to see her in the evenings once they were both done with their work.

They entered his apartment and Kyoko put her stuff down and immediately went into the kitchen to start the tea. Ren considered protesting, but decided that maybe it would be best to have a little bit of distance between them for the time being—it was getting more and more difficult to keep from wrapping his arms around her.

He managed to compose himself in time for Kyoko to bring out the tea and settle down at the table with him. She reached for her bag and pulled out what looked like four different scripts and Ren smiled. "You've more job offers?" he asked.

"Yes," Kyoko smiled. "And Akizaki-san has found some auditions for me as well."

They chatted quietly as he accepted some of the scripts to look over and give his opinions as well. Suddenly something Kyoko said made his head shoot up. "What was that?" he asked.

"Akizaki-san says that tomorrow we will be taking a tour of some apartments," Kyoko said giving him an uncertain look—had she said something to anger him?

"Ah, I…see," he said quietly and shut the script he was looking at. "I suppose you've a busy day tomorrow and should probably head to bed then, Mogami-san."

"Did—did I say something to make you mad, Tsuruga-san?" she asked.

Ren drew in a sharp breath at her question and then smiled at her brilliantly. "No, Mogami-san, I am not angry about anything at all," he said. "What makes you say so?"

Kyoko swallowed and ducked her head to avoiding the blinding sparkle of his gentleman's smile as she desperately tried to figure out what had him angry this time. "Mogami-san…"

Ren came around the table and hunkered down next to her and forced her chin up so that their eyes met. "I'm truly not angry with you at all," he said quietly and traced a finger along her jaw for a moment before pulling back. "Good night, Mogami-san. What time will you be getting started in the morning?"

"Akizaki-san said that she'd be here at eight to pick me up," Kyoko said. "She said I don't have time for school tomorrow, but she'll pick up assignments for me."

"Ah, I will be leaving before you then," Ren said. "My first job is at eight."

It could have been his imagination but he thought he saw a flash of regret flicker across Kyoko's face and a small part of him exulted at it, but he put the feeling away. One day he'd be able to tell her the full extent of his feelings. There was still too much in his beloved that had to be healed, but he somehow felt that every day it was becoming closer to the time when he could finally get this desire he was battling into the open.


	5. Chameleon

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ Hello and welcome to chapter five of **_Transparent Wings_**. Thank you for your continued support of this story. I appreciate it like you would never believe ^_^ It's just after midnight in my time zone so I figured I'll go ahead and drop this here. If I get some reviews before morning it'll start my day off right *laughs* If not, I hope you all continue to enjoy the story ^_^

For those who are concerned about how much Mia knows about Kyoko, please remember any _good_ manager (whether or not they intend to stick the journey out the entire way) is going to familiarize themselves with a perspective client's work in order to get them jobs that will work well for them and advance their careers. Also, this story isn't just about Ren and Kyoko, it's also about how Kyoko starts becoming a first-rate star in show business. I'm noticing a few people getting cranky at me not having more Ren x Kyoko in the story-another thing to keep in mind is the fact that Ren is a _very_ busy man and Kyoko's got her own career to work on to reach the star she wants to grasp. As much as Ren would like to spend every moment making sure Kyoko is safe and sound, he can't just abandon his career to make it happen and the same goes for Kyoko.

Anyway, all that aside, I hope you continue to enjoy the story. **_Skip Beat!_** is the property of Yoshiki Nakamura and I'm just playing in her world for a while; the original characters, the storyline of this particular fic, and the various things I create to advance the plot belong are mine.

I am getting into the mood for Ren & Kyoko fluff, so if the muses call hard enough (as long as it's not going to affect _**Transparent Wings**_ ) there will likely be a multi-part (or a one shot) fic of the two of them where all they have to focus on is each other (though how Ren will find room in his schedule for it, I'm not sure *laughs*). However, before I worry about that I have an original story to finish editing to submit to the Writer's Digest Popular Fiction contest and another story to write/edit for a submission call.

Thank you again for reading (and reviewing) if you get a chance and I promise I'm still working my way through the stories I've selected to review.

Take care!

~ Yuki

* * *

 _ **Chapter Five: Chameleon**_

Kyoko was up at 6 AM and in the kitchen fixing breakfast and making a lunch for Tsuruga-san and the startled look on his face melted into a smile. "You'll spoil me Mogami-san," he said as he entered the kitchen.

He'd fully intended to drink one of the meal replacement shakes he kept in the fridge before heading out, but, even though eating wasn't his favorite thing, he'd take breakfast with Kyoko over the shake any day. They settled at the table and he thanked her for the meal before settling into it. He watched her over the rim of his tea cup as she seemed to spend more time shoving food around on her plate than actually eating. "Are you not feeling well, Mogami-san?" he asked.

Kyoko jumped at his words, her amber eyes flying up to meet his and she quickly shook her head. "No, I'm fine," she said. "I'm just a little bit…nervous, I guess? I've never had a day quite like this since I started working for LME, you know?"

"Oh?" Ren inquired, sipping the miso soup that she'd made to go with the Japanese breakfast.

She rattled off the various appointments, carefully avoiding the mention of the apartments again, and Ren cocked his head. "It sounds like you're getting busier," he said. "Don't forget to take care of yourself, Mogami-san."

"I won't," she said with a smile. "I should say the same to you, Tsuruga-san."

Ren chuckled.

They finished eating and he cleared the table, doing the dishes over her protests and then he collected his things and paused at the doorway. "Oh, before I forget again," he said.

Long fingers delved into his bag and emerged with a key, a keycard, and a sheet of paper that he duly presented to her.

"What's this?" she asked.

"If you get back here before I do, you can let yourself in," he said. "The gate code is on the paper, memorize it and shred it at your earliest convenience, the keycard is for the elevator, and the key will get you into the apartment with no problems—I tested it last night."

Kyoko's eyes went wide and she immediately offered it back to him. "I couldn't possibly…Tsuruga-san…" she began.

He closed her fingers over the items. "I want you to have them, Mogami-san," he said. "I worry if you're outside alone for too long."

He tightened his fingers briefly over her fisted hand and then pulled back. "Have a good day today, Mogami-san," he said.

"I…thank you," Kyoko said and bowed deeply.

Ren ruffled her hair and then headed out the door, proud that he hadn't dropped a kiss onto the top of her head as he desperately wanted to.

After Tsuruga-san left, Kyoko went back to the main living area and pulled out all of the things that Mia wanted her to go over before she arrived.

The phone rang just shy of 7:50 AM and Kyoko picked it up the number on the screen identifying itself as belonging to Akizaki-san. "Hello? This is Mogami," she said.

"I will be arriving at the building in approximately ten minutes, please be waiting for me outside," Mia informed her.

"Okay," Kyoko said and hung up after saying good-bye and gathered her things.

She folded her Love Me coverall into the oversized bag and made sure she didn't crinkle any of the scripts and headed out to meet her manager.

Mia pulled up to the curb just as Kyoko emerged and she smiled at her. "Good morning Mia."

"Good morning Mogami-san," Mia replied. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Ah, yes, I did," she said. "I think I've decided which ones I want to do most out of the ones that we covered last night."

"Very good," Mia smiled. "You've eaten breakfast?"

Kyoko nodded. "I made breakfast this morning for Tsuruga-san and had some as well. It's the least I could do for troubling him so much with this."

"There's a file on the seat on what to expect from our meetings today. They include what each person has worked on and a brief synopsis of their work history. Please familiarize yourself with the information—if you know who you're talking to, your chances of getting a foot in the door for the job increases greatly," Mia said.

The chestnut-haired girl slid into the backseat and set her bag aside and immediately picked up the file after fastening her seatbelt.

It didn't feel like very long before they stopped and Kyoko glanced up and stared at the department store that loomed in front of her. "Akizaki-san?" she asked.

"Our 8:30 appointment is here, the meeting at 1:30 PM will take place in the restaurant on the top floor," Mia said. "The person we're meeting for lunch is the head of a new fashion line and based on the interview from the Dark Moon filming party that they showed he thinks that you may be suitable for modeling the new line."

"Oh?" Kyoko said.

"The line is called Chameleon," Mia said.

Kyoko made a face that line didn't sound elegant or ladylike at all and Mia chuckled. "Don't judge too hastily Mogami-san," she said. "I think you'll like it."

Mia pulled into a parking spot and they got out of the car heading for the entrance. "What exactly are we doing here this morning?" Kyoko finally asked the question that had been on her mind since her manager picked her up—Mia had never explained what this morning's appointment was for.

"We are meeting a friend of mine who is an image consultant before we meet with Takanori-san this afternoon," Mia said. "She's already prepared several things for us."

"An image consultant?" Kyoko asked blankly.

"Every star has an image that they tend to cultivate for the public," Mia said. "Ren Tsuruga's perceived as a perfect gentleman and his clothing and actions add to this impression. Sho Fuwa also has the 'cool' image that he's known for."

Kyoko muttered something beneath her breath and clamped down hard on the grudge that was flaring at the mention of Shotaro. "Like them, you also need to have an image you cultivate with the general public," Mia said. "Your image may be more mutable than others as you've an odd talent for simply blending in when you're not in one of your roles. This isn't necessarily a bad thing and it may save you some problems at least at this stage of your career. However, as your star rises you're going to have a more difficult time blending in."

Kyoko looked uncertain and Mia smiled. "This is also part of what I do as your manager," she said.

"But when I was a fill-in manager for Tsuruga-san…" she began.

"Likely, Tsuruga-san already went through all of this when he first started," Mia said. "His star currently shines brighter than anyone else in the business right now. My goal for you Mogami-san is to start you on that same path. It will take lots of time and work, but I think you've the potential for it."

They reached the door to a conference room and Mia knocked on it and was bid to enter. "Miichan, it's glorious to see you again!"

The voice was overly cheerful and Kyoko watched in surprise as her manager was practically tackled by a dark-haired woman shorter than both of them though taller than Muse-sama. Mia seemed to accept the greeting as normal and after a few moments, Mia stepped back and smiled. "Kyoko-san, please meet Yamamoto Sachiko-san of Tri-Star Images," Mia introduced the other woman. "Her company has worked with my younger brother and one of my sisters and we've never been disappointed."

Sachiko smiled at Kyoko and bowed. "Please treat me kindly, Kyoko-san," she said. "Come this way and we'll have some tea and chat a bit. I want to get to know you a little bit before we get started. My job as an image consultant is to find an image you can comfortably portray any time you're in public. The best foundation for your image lies with who you are off screen and we work to refine it from there."

Kyoko's eyes went to a corner of the room that was dominated by clothing racks and a table set up with cosmetics and hair styling tools. "Are you a make-up artist, Yamamoto-san?" she questioned.

"Not me," Sachiko grinned. "I work with my clients to figure out what they want the public to see them as and then Raevyn comes in and pulls some HMUA magic and Shyouko works on the wardrobe and we have our starting point."

"Mia…I—" Kyoko looked at her manager wondering how much money this was going to cost her.

"You don't have a thing to worry about, Kyoko-san. It's all taken care of," Sachiko said.

The next few hours passed in a haze for Kyoko. After some conversation with Sachiko, the doors had opened to admit a dark-skinned woman Sachiko identified as Raevyn and a red-haired woman that turned out to be Shyouko. Once the HMUA and the stylist entered the room she was caught up in a whirlwind of activity that didn't seem to wind down until just before their first meeting of the afternoon was scheduled. Kyoko never tried on so many different outfits in her life or had so many cosmetic styles applied until they reached a consensus.

At 1:15 PM the girl looking out from the mirror was definitely not the plain, boring woman Shotaro accused Kyoko of being so often. She didn't have the stand-out beauty of say Moko-san or some of the other costars she'd had over the past year, but there was a formal elegant air that was born from the years she spent at Shotaro's parents' ryokan and then refined.

"One of the things you have to remember while you're out there, Kyoko-san," Sachiko said as Shyouko finished one last alteration to the dress that Kyoko was wearing, "is that the entire world is a stage for you. Every person you meet is your audience and more than anything you want them to see what _you_ want them to see. Comport yourself with grace and utilize all of those things that you learned coming to this point and expand your repertoire as you continue moving forward."

Kyoko nodded slowly and rose, her eyes sparkling with excitement. The dress she was wearing was beautiful and it made her feel like an elegant lady as she'd always dreamed. "We'll meet up in a couple months and see how everything is working for you. If you're not entirely comfortable with any aspect of this image, let me know," Sachiko said and handed her a card. "At this early stage we can alter things until you feel completely at ease. You can call me at any time."

"Thank you so much for everything," Kyoko said, dropping into a low bow.

"No thank you," Sachiko smiled, "I haven't had this much fun since A-chan let us play a bit."

"A-chan?" Kyoko repeated blankly.

"My brother," Mia explained. "He'll be disappointed you didn't know him, Kyoko-san."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I—" Kyoko began.

Mia chuckled. "Don't worry about it, he could use something to humble him now and again," she said. "Shall we go? Our meeting with Takanori-san is in about ten minutes."

"Oh! Yes, please," Kyoko said and followed her manager out of the room after once more profusely thanking Sachiko.

As they stepped out, Kyoko took a deep breath and gathered herself to face the next challenge.

"Ah, Kyoko-san, Akizaki-san, good morning."

They were greeted almost as soon as they entered the restaurant by a slim man dressed in a black suit and he bowed. "I'm Takanori Ichiro," he introduced himself and handed Mia his card. "Please join me."

They followed the man through the restaurant to one of the private rooms and entered. "This is my brother Keiichi, he is actually the designer for the Chameleon line," Ichiro introduced him.

Keiichi rose and bowed politely before they settled down at the table. A waitress entered shortly afterwards taking their drink orders and leaving the menu behind so they could decide on their meal. "Don't let the cost deter you from getting what you want, Kyoko-san," Ichiro said. "The company is picking up the tab for this and we want to make sure you're taken care of properly."

Kyoko was handed a folder almost as soon as their orders were placed and opened it. "These are the types of designs we're looking to promote with our Chameleon line," Keiichi said. "The entire focus of the line is that with only a few switches with the pieces you can go from cute and playful to striking elegance. I've been watching the things you've already appeared in and I think you would be perfect to help promote our line. You have so many sides to you and we want to show them all off. The cute and adorable school girl in the Curara commercial and the sheer grace you displayed from that party for Dark Moon and everything in between. It's perfect for image I have in mind for my Chameleon brand."

Kyoko felt her cheeks heat and she forced herself to keep the smile for the two men in front of her. "Also since I am a newer designer, we thought it would be fitting to find someone to model our clothing line who is seeing her own career just starting out," Keiichi said. "Here is the entire proposal. Please consider it. I think that Chameleon and Kyoko-san would make an incredible match up that's sure to grace every billboard in Tokyo."

Mia flipped through the papers contained in the folder and looked over at Kyoko for a moment then back at the two brothers who were watching them expectantly. "Please allow us forty-eight hours to look this over and take it through our legal consultants," Mia said.

"Of course," Ichiro said. "We expected as much. We are honored that you heard us out today."

They chatted a bit more, Kyoko only adding a few comments to the conversation and feeling like she was massively out of her depth. They left first and headed out to the car. "What do you think, Kyoko-san?" Mia asked.

"I think it sounds really fun and interesting," Kyoko said. "But, I don't know a lot about being a model…"

"We can arrange appropriate lessons through LME to help you be more comfortable with it," Mia said. "I know that your ultimate goal is to be an actress, but through this proposal you will be able to show several different sides of your persona. Modeling the clothing line will give you more to put in front of casting directors than Mio and Natsu. It will also provide a more lucrative steady income than just what you pull from your spot on _Kimagure Rock_."

Kyoko nodded and slipped into the back seat and picked up the folder with the information for their next meeting.

By the time 8:00 PM rolled around, Kyoko was exhausted. They'd been through five different apartments and she wasn't entirely comfortable with any of them, but she knew that she had to find a place soon or risk wearing out her welcome with Tsuruga-san. After the apartment tours, they'd returned to LME for Kyoko to take care of some assignments from Sawara for the Love Me section, working with Amamiya-san on a few different things. After they'd finished those tasks, Kyoko had been off again for another meeting. The meeting with Kurosaki had gone well and she'd come away with a firm offer of a role in the commercial.

They stopped by Darumaya in between meetings and the apartment tours to talk to Taisho and Okamisan and she'd enjoyed having tea with them before they opened up for the dinner hour. The restaurant owners had been saddened when Mia informed them that Kyoko would likely be set up in a different accommodation, but they'd understood. Kyoko knew she'd rest easier knowing that she wouldn't be causing further trouble for them. She'd been hit by admonishments from both not to be a stranger and she promised that she would come by as often as her schedule permitted. They had treated her very kindly from the first moment she started working for them and helped her through so many things and she couldn't imagine not talking to them anymore.

Finally, Mia pulled up in front of the building that housed Tsuruga-san's apartment and frowned a bit. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked.

"Tsuruga-san gave me a key and the security to code to get in," Kyoko told her. "Thank you so much for everything today."

Mia smiled. "It was my pleasure, Kyoko-san," she said. "Tomorrow I will be here to get you to school and then you have Box 'R' and an episode of _Kimagure Rock_ to tape. I should have the schedule for the script reading from the two dramas that you accepted roles on today and they should be done going over the contract with Chameleon by the afternoon. I will also have a couple more apartment walkthroughs scheduled."

Kyoko nodded and bowed. "Thank you," she said.

She hurried to the entrance gate and dialed in the code and it opened. She hurried to the elevator and rode it to the appropriate level for Tsuruga-san's apartment and got off. Once she was inside, she sent a text to Mia to let her know that she was inside safely and received the affirmative response and decided that she would take a bath before Tsuruga-san got home. They'd talked briefly and she knew that he would be in later so she decided to make some things for dinner that didn't have to be warmed up.

After the bath she put dinner together and set it in the refrigerator to stay fresh and moved to the couch. She settled down with the script of the drama that would start filming first of the two and started to go through it, trying to figure out how best to work with this particular character.

It was nearly 9:30 PM when Ren pulled into the garage and he wondered if Kyoko was home yet, from their conversation it sounded like she would be at his apartment for at least a couple nights more. He'd also gotten a message through Yashiro that Mia wanted to meet with him for a short time in between his jobs while Kyoko was filming Box 'R'.

Entering the apartment, he hung his jacket up and set his bag down and headed into the living room. He drew up short at the sight of Kyoko dressed in a pair of loose pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt curled on the couch fast asleep, the script she'd apparently been reading lying forgotten on the floor. He smiled tenderly and moved forward, reaching out despite himself to run his fingers through the chestnut strands of her hair. He gave into the urge and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before he drew back and composed himself. "Mogami-san, if you're sleepy, you should be resting in the bed in the guest room not on the couch," he observed.

Kyoko started awake at his words and her eyes met his and her breath caught hard in her chest as she found herself bathed in the gentle smile. "I-I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san, I…" she began.

He reached out and stroked long fingers along her jaw and brushed his thumb over her lips, watching as the color rose steadily to her cheeks. She cleared her throat and pulled away, but not as quickly as he expected. "Dinner's in the fridge. Would you eat some before you sleep?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. "I'd be foolish to turn down some of Mogami-san's cuisine."

She rose from the couch and headed for the kitchen. "Please get comfortable while I serve it," she said.

He got up himself and headed into the bedroom to switch to looser clothing and settled down at the table just as she finished setting it. "Haven't you eaten yet, Mogami-san?" he frowned a bit when he realized she'd put out plates for both of them.

"I had some dinner when we met with Director Kurosaki, but I also wanted to have dinner with Tsuruga-san," Kyoko admitted with a blush.

"I'm glad," he said and they settled into their meal.

"Did things go well today?" Kyoko asked him.

Ren glanced up in surprise at the question and then he nodded. "Yes," he said—if he wasn't careful he could get used to having Kyoko here. "How about with you?"

He couldn't help but smile as Kyoko enthusiastically went into her day and he noted that she didn't mention apartment hunting at all.

Eventually the conversation wound down and Kyoko put away the leftovers while Ren took care of the dishes. They ran into each other in the middle of the kitchen, and Ren's hands shot out to steady her and tightened for just a moment before he released her. "Are you okay, Mogami-san?" he asked.

She nodded. "Fine," she said. "What time do you work tomorrow?"

"I've got the morning off mostly, but I'll be out very late tomorrow night so I probably won't be able to have dinner with you," he said. "Will you be going to school tomorrow?"

Kyoko nodded.

"Then you should get some rest," he smiled. "Thank you for cooking dinner."


	6. Living Arrangements

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ I am not typically one to be subject to emotions and having said emotions dictate things and move things in a way I don't have planned out. As a writer, I enjoy hearing good things about my stories, but I also like hearing about things that could be improved, but today a particular review hit a particular chord with me and I feel the need to counter it. And as a subject of my whims, you get an extra chapter today (thankfully my buffer on this story allows this or I'd spend all day fuming *laughs*).

Honestly, I don't mind if you don't like my OCs, yes they're my babies and yes I adore them for many, many reasons, but that's the thing with OCs in a fan fiction story...people will love them or hate them and that's fine. I also love all the theories floating around in the reviews about Mia ^_^ However, I won't let it be said that I don't do at least some research on what I'm working on; my goal is to try and make things as real as I can within the confines of my limited knowledge while trying to stay true to the characters in the story. The particular review said that Mia was being 'too pushy' for a manager, but I'd like to share a quote from an agency site (if you Google agents vs managers it's the seventh result since I can't directly link the site):

 _1 – Let's say that you are currently in your "paying your dues" stage of your entertainment career and you are not sure of the next steps to take in order to continue building your career. You may want to consider hiring a manager to help you. During this stage, a manager is most likely going to be wearing many hats. They may need to help you with negotiating contracts, PR services, arranging personal appearances, image consulting, giving career development advice, and even sometimes booking appearances for you. At this stage, a manager is working in full conjunction with the talent as if the talent is one and the same person with the manager. It is a very intimate arrangement and you must TRUST your manager fully with your career._

Kyoko is definitely in the 'paying your dues' stage of her career, so within the realms of that research Mia is doing exactly as she should.

On the front of Kyoko quickly calling Mia by her first name, did she ever call Moko-san Kotonami-san? I also note that she calls the people she works with on _Kimagure Rock_ by their first names. The less formal address was also a decision on my part 'cuz I got tired of typing "Akizaki-san" every time I was in Kyoko's point of view (and later on in the story that's going to make things confusing), Kyoko also slips and still calls Mia 'Mia-san' every now and again whether by my design or just the way the dialogue flows.

So anyway, that's off my chest and you guys get another chapter that may or may not clear some things up. I thank you for your patience with this particular outburst of mine *laughs*

The next chapter will drop around September 9th ^_^

Thank you again for your patience and for reading (and reviewing if you get a chance) my story ^_^

Until next time!

~ Yuki

* * *

 _ **Chapter Six: Living Arrangements**_

Ren changed back into his normal attire after the photo shoot and was met by Yashiro who handed him a bottle of water as they made their way to the exit. They'd be stopping at a café near the Box 'R' set to meet with Mia Akizaki and Ren wondered what the meeting was about. His manager said that Mia had been vague about it, but he had a general impression that it had something to do with Kyoko. They arrived at the café and were immediately escorted back to one of the tables towards the back. Ren noticed that the café was oddly quiet for what should be the heart of the lunch hour.

Mia Akizaki was already seated when they arrived, a pair of tortoise shell glasses perched on her nose as she sorted through the papers in front of her. Her blond hair was pulled back into a sleek chignon today and she was dressed impeccably in another suit. She looked up immediately upon their approach and neatly stacked the papers and put them aside, rising to greet them.

"Thank you for taking the time out of your day to meet with me today, Tsuruga-san," she said.

"What may I help you with Akizaki-san?" he asked, sitting down across from her while Yashiro took a seat on his left.

Mia returned to her seat and extracted what looked like some brochures from her bag and handed them over. "For Mogami-san's safety we are looking to find her a more secure living space," Mia informed him. "We looked at five different apartments yesterday and she was reluctant to settle on any of them."

"What does this have to do with me?" Ren asked.

"As her senior and one of the ones that she respects most, she will listen to Tsuruga-san if he recommends one of these places," Mia said.

Ren folded his hands over the brochures not even inclined to glance through them for politeness's sake. "Mogami-san's life is not something I will dictate for her," he said. "If she wants to stay where she is, it's fine with me."

"Then what about her career, Tsuruga-san?" Mia asked calmly.

Ren froze as the words fell between them.

"While it may suit Tsuruga-san to have her close at hand, please remember that Mogami-san is only seventeen," Mia said. "If it were to get out that she was living with a man she wasn't married to it could smear her image before she even truly gets started. And even if you were to be married it would still have to be a secret, don't you think? After all, Mogami-san's initial fan base is likely to be made up of men and if it's known that she's with Japan's number one star it could make her seem too unreachable."

"We are not together," Ren stated. "I'm taking care of her as her senior in the same agency."

A slight smile quirked Mia's lips. "I wish I could believe that, Tsuruga-san, but I've seen the way you interact with her," she said. "Unlike most people who watch you two, you're an easy read for me because I've lived in a similar world all my life. If you really care for Mogami-san as much as it seems, you need to encourage her to step out on her own. I'm not saying be cruel to her or hurt her to force her out. You don't even have to take back the apartment key and keycard from her if you don't wish to. I just need you to help me keep Mogami-san as safe as possible. As Mogami-san's respected senior and as her friend, what you say holds much greater weight than anything I as her manager of mere days do."

Ren's hands clenched together for a moment and he summoned up his gentleman's smile. "I will take into consideration what you've said, Akizaki-san," he said and collected the brochures and put them in his bag.

"I'm afraid we have to go now," Yashiro said, interrupting the silent contest of wills between his client and Kyoko's manager.

Mia inclined her head. "Thank you for meeting with me," she said and they rose from their seats.

Ren slung his bag onto his shoulder and turned to go.

"Tsuruga-san."

He stopped and glanced back.

The young woman regarded him with cool gray green eyes. "Don't let your selfishness stonewall Kyoko's progress," she said. "If you kill her with kindness, it won't be much better than what Sho Fuwa pulled to start her on this path to begin with. Let her grow Tsuruga-san and take a front row seat for the entire journey."

Ren's eyes narrowed at the comparison between him and Fuwa, but he kept his brilliant smile in place even as they exited the café.

Mia watched the actor leave and settled back down in her seat, tapping a well-manicured finger against her glossed lips thoughtfully. "Well, that could have gone a bit better," she murmured to herself, "but I think in the end he'll do the right thing for Kyoko because he really does care for her well-being."

"Akizaki-san, is it okay for us to open now?" the café manager asked hesitantly.

"Oh yes, definitely, thank you for going to all this trouble for me," Mia said and took her wallet from her bag and extracted several bills. "Based on what I saw of your finances, this should cover the amount of money you lost by closing down for this time frame."

She rose from her seat and smiled, bowing to the manager. "I'll be sure to let my elder brother know of your kindness and be sure that the flyers for this café are posted in the employee lounge of Drake Securities and I will see that both my siblings drop by here and make glowing reviews on their websites."

The proprietor smiled and bowed. "Thank you for your kindness, Akizaki-san."

"No thank you," Mia said and headed for the door, Kyoko would be likely done filming soon.

She breezed out the door and headed for the studio, her sensible black pumps clicking on the cement as she moved. While she herself had no interest in anything but the business side of show business, having two siblings in the industry as well as being from the Akizaki Group did come in handy on more than one occasion.

Mia nodded at the security officers guarding the studio as she entered and after a quick consultation found out that they'd moved to a different set for the next scenes and headed that way. She stepped into the room as the final scene between Yumika and Natsu finished and the clapperboard clicked.

"OK. It looks good."

Kyoko pulled herself out of the Natsu haze and noted that her manager had arrived at some point during the take. There were vague remnants of shock on the outer edge of her consciousness as the last of Natsu's loyal group besides Kaori left her. It would be the last major scene that she filmed with Amamiya-san for this drama and she felt a loss.

"Don't look that way, Kyoko-san, we'll still see each other I'm sure at LME," Chiori said. "And I wouldn't object if we were cast in the same drama again though next time I will outshine you for sure."

Kyoko grinned. "Amamiya-san, you seem like you're learning to love acting again," she said.

Chiori looked thoughtful. "Perhaps a little bit at a time," she said.

Kyoko nodded and the girls separated, Chiori heading to her manager who was ready to take her to her next job.

"All right, we're ready to film scene eighty-four," the director announced. "Let's move to the classroom set."

It was a little over four hours later when they finished the last take of the day and Kyoko donned her Love Me uniform in her dressing room. Mia was waiting for her to exit and the manager handed her a bottle of water. "We have just enough time to stop for dinner before heading to TBM Studios. You have a light schedule tomorrow except school and the final meeting with Takanori-san about the Chameleon clothing line."

"I'm sorry we disrupted the original schedule you gave me," Kyoko said contritely.

"That's the way things go, sometimes the NGs make things last longer, but you know the director only wants the best for his drama," Mia said. "Pushing off the apartment tours wasn't that big of a deal. I simply rescheduled them for tomorrow, but you'll be at the studio in time to watch the premiere of Box 'R' with everyone."

Ren was in his dressing room at the TV Station for his latest appearance the last words Mia had thrown at him as he exited ricocheting through his head. Reluctantly he had to acknowledge the woman was right, but it didn't stop him from resenting it. He pulled out the brochures that Mia had given him and started sorting through them, comparing them especially in the realms of the security.

The knock on his dressing room door interrupted him and he glanced up as Yashiro entered. "They're ready for you on the set," he said.

"Okay," he replied and tucked the brochures into his bag.

"So you're actually looking at them?" Yashiro asked.

"Yes," Ren said. "Akizaki-san did make a good point about what the living arrangements could do to her reputation and I won't be like that guy."

"It wouldn't exactly be good for your reputation either, Ren," Yashiro murmured, "if it came out anyway."

"I know," Ren said.

Kyoko got back to Tsuruga-san's apartment late and wasn't capable of doing more than taking a shower and tumbling directly into bed, the day had been exhausting.

Kyoko got up the next morning and found Ren already up and flushed. "I'm sorry, I should've gotten up earlier to make breakfast!"

Ren looked up at her words and shook his head. "You don't have to make breakfast every morning, Mogami-san," he said. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"I'm sorry I didn't stay up to greet you when you returned home, Tsuruga-san," she apologized.

"It's likely good you didn't, I've only been home about two hours," Ren said. "Do you have time this morning, Mogami-san?"

"I am just going to school today and there is a meeting to sign the contracts for Chameleon," Kyoko said, "then Box 'R' premieres tonight."

"Oh, is it time already?" Ren inquired.

Kyoko nodded. "We're working on the last two episodes of the drama right now. The preliminary reviews have been favorable so far."

Kyoko got some tea and settled at the table with Ren who produced several brochures and her eyes went wide. "Before you start apologizing for imposing on me, don't," Ren said. "I feel better knowing that you're here and safe, but if you were to stay here on a permanent basis it could affect many things. Akizaki-san spoke to me yesterday and said that these were amongst the front runners for new accommodations. Come over here, Mogami-san. Let's go over them together."

Kyoko flushed and shifted over closer to Ren and they quietly discussed the brochures.

Having Kyoko by his side was another form of torture that Ren had devised for himself, but it was easier to go over the spec sheets with her next to him. They spent the better part of the next two hours going over the information in front of them, narrowing the possibilities down to four, two of which Kyoko had already toured with Mia and the other two on the docket for today after she got out of school

After Kyoko got up to get ready to school, Ren settled on his couch with one more cup of tea and once she was gone headed for his room for some sleep before his schedule picked up this afternoon.

Kyoko met Mia at the school gate and slid into the dark interior of the sedan quietly. "Are you feeling well, Mogami-san?" Mia asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kyoko replied.

"Our meeting with Takanori-san is in about three hours so we're going to go tour those last two sites before then," Mia said. "Sawara-san excused you from Love Me duties until your living arrangements are complete."

"What? But…" Kyoko began.

"Once we have a better idea of how things are going to go, I'll be able to block your time more efficiently," Mia said.

"Okay," Kyoko said and settled back into the seat.

They toured the last two places over the next couple hours and Mia and Kyoko sat at a quiet café in the back going over the four properties that she and Ren had selected. "I think I like this one best," Kyoko said, pointing at one. "It's got a pretty garden on the roof and the kitchen is much nicer than at the other places. The size isn't that big, but it's just me so I don't require much more than that."

Mia nodded.

"Though, Mia-san, how am I supposed to cover this?" Kyoko asked, pointing at the box where the rent was noted. "I don't make nearly enough money to pay that much every month."

"It will be subsidized through LME for six months, arrangements have already been made," Mia said. "By the end of those six months Mogami-san as long as I'm doing my job and you're accomplishing yours with all the skills I know you have and that you will accrue, you will easily be able to make the rent and then some."

"Really?" Kyoko asked her eyes going wide.

"Yes, Mogami-san," Mia smiled. "I guarantee it. There are three things that will help you to make it in this world. One is talent, which you have in spades. Two is work ethic, which you also have in excessive amounts. The final factor is luck—and since you landed me as your manager and you've hit it off with some well-known names in the industry, I'd say you have a hefty amount of that as well."

"Are you really that good?" Kyoko asked curiously.

Mia chuckled. "I guess we'll find out, won't we Mogami-san?" she said. "I can assure you that if I don't do my job properly, Takarada-taichou will replace me in an instant."

* * *

Quick Note: I started this fic just after Ch. 211 was released and didn't realize that the first episode of Box 'R' was released while Kyoko was in Guam (that wasn't mentioned until a few chapters later) so the timing is off and though I do try and work with what comes out in the manga I can't work all the new developments from the manga into a story that's over halfway complete so some things are definitely going to play out differently.


	7. Windows

_**Chapter Seven: Windows**_

 _Flash. Click. Whirr._

Kyoko responded automatically to the photographer's instructions as she worked through her first photo shoot for the Chameleon line. She'd wound up moving out of Tsuruga-san's apartment two days after she finally settled on a place. Mia had helped her pack what she owned and had made arrangements for things such as dishes, linens, and towels to be delivered. Kyoko flinched inwardly thinking of how much money she probably owed the President and LME for everything that was in her small apartment now, but she managed to keep an outward smile for the camera.

The test shoots for Chameleon could have gone better, but after Mia had delivered on her promise to work with the modeling division of LME and after she'd had some long discussions with the photographer she'd finally settled into a groove. She found that if she treated the photo shoots like another role it was easy to settle into what the photographers wanted. When she was modeling the elegant evening wear she was "Princess Esmeralda", the cute, sporty chic looks she pulled out "Momoko", and for the darker looks she adapted what she'd learned from her time portraying the Heel Siblings into "Setsuna". Her transformation into each "role" sometimes took longer than she liked, but she was beginning to pick up a few tips and tricks to change over flawlessly.

The final flash faded from her eyes and she rose from the divan that had been set up and looked over at Mia uncertainly. The manager came forward with a bottle of water. "Good job, Kyoko-san," she smiled. "We'll be heading out in a few minutes to go do the first reading for 'Windows'."

"Akizaki-san, a moment of your time?" a voice called.

Mia glanced up at Ichiro Takanori and nodded. "Go change. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Kyoko nodded and ducked into the dressing room and pulled on the outfit that was laid out for her. As part of her contract with Chameleon, she was given most of a wardrobe of clothing that she was to mix and match accordingly to show the flexibility of the line. Once she was dressed, she slipped her bag onto her shoulder and exited the dressing room.

"Kyoko-san?"

Keiichi Takanori approached and Kyoko bowed to him. "Good work today," she said.

"You too," Keiichi smiled. "Akizaki-san told me this is your first modeling job?"

"Yes it is," Kyoko admitted. "Did I mess something up or was I too horrible and you're going to fire me or…"

Keiichi quickly raised his hands. "No, not at all Kyoko-san. I was actually amazed at how well everything went after the test shoots last week—you learn quickly. My brother was worried maybe we were asking too much of you, but as we went through the different variations of the Chameleon line today it was amazing how you seemed to shift to the vibe we wanted for each one easily. It was like interacting with a new model for each section. I think even my brother will be satisfied with that."

Kyoko flushed and dropped her gaze to the ground for a moment, her hands twisting together in front of her for a moment before she forced herself back into calm and lifted her head with a bright smile. "Thank you."

They chatted amicably for a little while and one of the photographers joined them and talked to Kyoko about the shoot today and gave her a couple pointers as well. She got so lost in the conversation she didn't notice when Mia approached until the blonde cleared her throat to catch her attention.

"Kyoko-san, we should leave now if we want to be on time for the reading today," Mia reminded her.

"Oh, okay," Kyoko said and bowed to the two men she'd been speaking with. "Thank you for today."

Mia thanked them as well and bowed and then led the way out.

Once they were in the car and moving towards their next definition, Kyoko looked at Mia uncertainly. "Did something go wrong in the meeting you had with Takanori-san?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Mia said. "He wasn't entirely thrilled with a couple aspects of the shoot."

"But the other Takanori-san…" Kyoko began.

"Ichiro Takanori has the final say on anything that goes on with this particular venture," Mia said. "Keiichi is easily dazzled by things like your shift in persona as you were shooting today, that's why he entrusts the business side of things to his brother."

"D-did Takanori-san decide to fire me after all?" Kyoko asked.

"No, he didn't go that far," Mia said. "He was also impressed by the shift in persona you came up with for each aspect of the line, but there were a few things he said needed to be improved in the next shoot or he may have to find an additional model."

"Oh…"

Kyoko was crestfallen; she'd thought she nailed it.

"Don't look like that Mogami-san," Mia said. "What he wants improved are things that you will get with more practice. Overall it was just very unrefined. I will see if I can arrange for us to observe some fashion models in action, it's different seeing it actually happen versus what happens in the controlled environment of the modeling courses. If you see others in action you will be able to polish your techniques. Also, I know someone who may also be able to help you on the side—it'll just depend on her schedule."

"Does that mean everything we did today was no good?" Kyoko asked.

"Not at all," Mia said. "The photographers who were working on the shoot know their jobs and there are likely several shots that will be perfect for the photo spread."

Kyoko fell back against the seat and closed her eyes feeling a tremor in the confidence that she'd built up over the course of her conversation with the younger Takanori and the photographer. Her cell phone buzzed and she reached for it and answered it.

"Good afternoon, Mogami-san," Ren Tsuruga said. "Did things go well today?"

"I-I don't know," Kyoko said miserably and relayed the conversations to him.

"Modeling is not something you can necessarily nail on the first take," Ren said. "It seems easy enough—stand in front of a camera and listen to the direction of the photographer, but it takes as much practice in its own way as it does for us to make sure we say our lines clearly and express the emotions of our characters in front of a camera in such a way that the audience believes we are that character."

"What if I lose this job, Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked.

"Then take what you learned from it and apply it to your next one, Mogami-san," he said. "After all, that's what we do best isn't it? Adapt, change, and learn."

Kyoko was quiet for a moment and then smiled. "Thank you, Tsuruga-san."

"Where are you headed now?" he asked.

"To a script reading," Kyoko replied.

"Good luck, Mogami-san," he said.

They arrived at the studio for the script reading and Mia parked the car and let Kyoko out. They talked quietly as they approached the studio doors. The security let them through and Kyoko's head turned sharply as she thought she saw a familiar car go by, but then decided it was just wishful thinking. They were given directions at the desk to the room where the cast was meeting and headed for the elevator.

The elevator dinged as they hit their floor and Kyoko preceded Mia out of the box and cast a glance at the directory. "It looks like we're headed down that way," she said, pointing.

Mia nodded and the two made their way down the corridor to the appropriate conference room and opened the door. "Ah, Kyoko-san, welcome!"

The greeting was effusive and a woman as tiny as Muse-sama bounced forward to greet her. "I'm Miyano Makoto."

"Kantoku?" Kyoko blinked.

"Yep," the woman beamed at her. "I bet you didn't expect something like this when you were coming did you?"

"Ah…" Kyoko hesitated and dropped into a bow. "I will be working with you from today, please treat me kindly."

"Take a seat, we're waiting for a couple more people and then we'll get started," Makoto said and gestured at the table where there were others gathered.

A few minutes later the doors burst open and a beautiful girl entered. "Mother, you don't have to follow me everywhere," the girl scowled at the woman that trailed her in.

"But, Miyako-chan…" the other said.

A tall man in a business suit followed and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Mariko, I will make sure that Miyako-chan is well cared for on the set, no one will lay a hand on her," he said.

"But, Rei…" the woman began.

"You are too protective, Mariko," the man called Rei said mildly. "Please trust in me as you have in the past."

Mariko hesitated and then bowed her head in acquiescence. "I apologize for my intrusion," she said, inclining a bow towards the stunned onlookers at the table.

Mariko left and Miyako let out a huff. "I'm not like my stupid brother, I won't get involved in the likes of that," she muttered.

"Miyako, you're in the presence of your future costars, please…" Rei said with a pained look.

The girl's eyes went wide as if she just realized where she was and she immediately dropped into a deep bow stuttering her apologies. "Please forgive Miyako-chan, she's still new at this," the man in the suit said. "I'm Shimizu Rei."

"Miwa Miyako," the girl introduced herself hurriedly.

"Welcome Miya-chan," Makoto smiled. "You're as lively as you were in your audition video. Please take a seat; we're just waiting for our leading man."

There were whispers going through the conference room and Kyoko glanced at Mia in question and her manager leaned over and murmured. "Miyano-san has been close-mouthed on who would be playing Reiji Kinoshita. Miwa-san will be the one who will play 'Sakura Yamaguchi', this will be her debut starring role. She's mostly done beauty pageants, commercials, and bit parts. She's been in the business since she was four, but this will be the first major acting role she plays."

"You know a lot about her," Kyoko noted.

"I looked up everyone that was confirmed for the casting of this drama before we came here," Mia smiled. "It's good to know who you're working with. In the case of Miwa-san, she's actually a client of DS Entertainment—so I knew a lot about her from before."

Kyoko remembered belatedly that Mia said something about working with LME in conjunction with her home talent agency when she'd picked her up the first day. "You said DS Entertainment was small?"

"Yes, DS Entertainment was actually just acquired by our president Mai about six months ago. We currently only have five clients, but we're working on building up our reputation," Mia said. "Mai talked to Takarada-taichou about me working with LME under contract to expand my horizons and he accepted it."

Whatever Kyoko may have responded to that with was interrupted as the door opened to admit Yashiro and Tsuruga-san at the precise time the reading was supposed to start. "Tsuruga-san, welcome," the director smiled.

Ren gave his usual smile to the director and the rest of the cast, his eyes automatically seeking out Kyoko who was staring at him in shock and her manager seemed to be concealing a smile. Idly he wondered if somehow Akizaki-san had gotten word that he would be joining the cast of "Windows" she was the only one in the room aside from the director herself who seemed unsurprised by his appearance. He could tell from Kyoko's expression that there may be questions next time they met up.

"Thank you," Ren said. "I look forward to working with everyone."

Ren moved to the empty spot at the table next to the director and settled down as the newest version of the script was distributed to everyone and he opened it. Glancing over the first few pages, he noted there'd been a few changes, but it was mostly the same. He happened to glance up from his script and met Kyoko's eyes over the edge of the papers and turned his attention back to the script.

To tell the truth, when "Windows" had first been presented to him, Ren was planning on turning it down. The role of "Reiji" was a bit too close to his role as "Katsuki" from _Dark Moon_ and he wanted that role to stay in the spotlight a bit longer. However, he'd changed his mind when Kyoko had shown him the scripts that she'd been offered and he saw that it was amongst the final ones she was going to choose between. He wanted to see how much she'd grown from Mio beyond her role as Natsu on Box 'R', which he'd recorded and watched with Kyoko when she came home the night of the premiere. He also admitted that playing a role so closely tied to Kyoko's projected role in the drama would put him a bit at ease because he would be on set with her often and having her close at hand was preferable than worrying that she might be in more danger.

"So, let's start with introductions," the director said. "I am Miyano Makoto. This will be my first full season drama, let's work well together."

"I am Tsuruga Ren from LME, I will be playing the role of 'Reiji'," Ren introduced himself.

"Miwa Miyako from DS Entertainment," the younger girl said. "I will be playing the role of 'Sakura'. Please take care of me from here on out."

"I'm Kyoko, also from LME. I will be playing 'Clara', please treat me kindly," Kyoko said.

The rest of the introductions rolled around the table and then the script reading started. Ren watched Kyoko go through her lines and couldn't help but thinking that the role of Sakura would have suited Kyoko nicely as the character didn't seem too far out of line with Kyoko's true personality.

After the reading, everyone chatted a little bit and then started wandering out.

"Kyoko-san, a moment of your time?" Makoto called as Kyoko started heading for the door.

Kyoko froze for a moment wondering if she'd messed something up, her less-than-spectacular success with the modeling shoot earlier in the day putting her on edge.

"Don't look like that Kyoko-san, you did fine," Makoto smiled. "It's actually Miya-chan that I'd like to speak to you about. She seemed a little shaky during the reading, which is understandable because it is her first starring drama role. Miya-chan doesn't have any senpais to go to because DS Entertainment is just starting out and so I would ask that if she comes to you for advice, please help her? Because you are both of a similar age, she may see you as someone she can approach if she has trouble."

"I, um, I just started a bit over a year ago and…" Kyoko stuttered.

Makoto chuckled. "Yes, but in that year you've managed to come so far," she said. "There is still a long road to travel to reach the star you want, but for someone like Miya-chan you have valuable experience that will help her to learn as well. I hope that 'Windows' does well and that your role as Clara will help catapult you higher. Let's work hard together, okay, Kyoko-san?"

"Of course," Kyoko said and bowed. "Thank you for the opportunity."

"Mia-sama!"

The wail echoed up the hall and Kyoko watched Miyako Miwa fling herself at Mia causing the blond woman to stagger back just a bit before wrapping her arms around her in a hug. "Hello Miyako-chan," Mia greeted her. "Is this any way for the rising star of DS Entertainment to comport herself in public?"

"B-but, Mia-sama…" Miyako began.

"Better here in the hall than in the middle of the cast meeting; don't you think Akizaki-san?"

Miyako's manager approached with a smile and Mia returned the gesture. "I suppose there is that," she said.

"When are you coming back to the agency, I miss you!" Miyako said. "Rei-chan's been mean ever since you've been gone!"

"Mean as in he's making you practice for three hours a day and making sure you eat something other than the junk food that you're so fond of?" Mia asked.

Miyako pouted a bit and Rei chuckled.

"Sounds to me like he's doing his job then," Mia laughed.

"But I wanted you to be my manager!" Miyako said. "Rei-chan doesn't have any sense of style and he doesn't talk about anything but work and it's bo~oring!"

"Miyako-chan, Shimizu-san is the very best match for you in the long run," Mia said gently. "Give him a bit more of a chance to get used to you and I think everything will be all right."

"But—" Miyako began.

"Are you a professional, Miyako-chan?" Mia asked.

"Well, I want to be…" Miyako mumbled.

"Then do as the President wishes and work well with Shimizu-san," Mia said.

Miyako heaved a sigh and then turned her eyes to Kyoko who was watching the scene uncertainly. Miyako's eyes widened. "You were the angry angel in Sho-chan's PV weren't you?"

Kyoko flinched a bit at that, but nodded.

"Sho-chan is cool, but A-chan is way better, you should have acted in one of his PVs instead," Miyako declared.

Kyoko blinked at the declaration, but Miyako flounced off with Rei trailing after her a smile hovering on his lips.

"Please forgive Miyako-chan," Mia murmured. "She's a bit—"

"It's okay," Kyoko said. "She really likes you doesn't she?"

"She mostly just likes my brother, but figures if she gets close to me she'll see him more often," Mia chuckled.

"Your brother being…A-chan?" Kyoko asked remembering the conversation a few weeks before.

"Yes," Mia replied. "Miyako-chan is a big fan. Shall we go? The schedule is clear for the rest of the day and it would likely be a good idea to get some rest. Tomorrow will be busy with Box 'R', _Kimagure Rock_ , and then we'll be traveling to the location for Kurosaki-san's commercial afterwards."


	8. Unexpected Dinner Engagements

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ Sorry, was going to try and stop doing author's notes, but I like to talk about things sometimes. Thank your for all your kind comments and encouragement, I appreciate it more than you'll know ^_^

This chapter came out a bit longer than expected, but I had fun writing it anyway.

As a note, I haven't forgotten about the incident that started up this whole story. It's only been a few weeks story-time since the break-in at Darumaya, there wasn't a whole lot of evidence to go on and so the police are continuing the investigation, but there really isn't anything for the characters to do, they're not investigators. Meanwhile, Kyoko is doing what Kyoko does best...adapting and moving forward. I've noted some people are concerned about the coincidence that things are conveniently being paid for, there's nothing coincidental about it, Mia has a lot connections and a lot of money at her disposal and isn't afraid to use it to advance her client (she can also claim it as work expenses on her taxes). I'd like to state though Mia doesn't "buy" a single part for Kyoko, Kyoko gets her parts on her own.

I can promise that before the story ends that the answer to who destroyed Kyoko's room will be answered.

The next chapter drops around October 7th. I'm sorry I'm a day late on this one ^^;

Thank you for taking the time to read (and review if you get a chance) my story ^_^

Until next time,

~ Yuki

* * *

 _ **Chapter Eight: Unexpected Dinner Engagements**_

The ocean waves rushed up onto the beach and Kyoko giggled delightedly as she danced barefoot through them in a white sundress. She wore a white straw hat, the highest proof SPF sunblock they could find, and cosmetics from a company she'd only dreamed of wearing. She turned around on cue and stumbled landing on her rump.

"Cut. Kyoko-san please be a little more graceful," Ushio Kurosaki sighed. "While you're changing, I'll have them make sure that the beach is clear."

Humiliation brought a flush to Kyoko's cheeks and she moved back to the mobile dressing room and changed out of the white dress into an identical one for the fourth time. She'd been so excited about the beach commercial, but it was proving to be rougher than she thought and she looked helplessly at Mia while her hair and make-up were fixed again.

"You'll get it this time, Kyoko-san," Mia said. "Just map your path a little more carefully."

"Okay," Kyoko said and they finished the last touch-up.

"Kyoko-chan, this is our last take for today, please try and not fall," Kurosaki said. "We need to film other scenes tomorrow for the last day."

Kyoko bowed. "I'll get it this time, Kantoku," she said firmly and took a deep breath shaking off the three NGs.

"I know you will," he said with an encouraging smile. "Let's go."

Everything was put together and Kyoko moved to the starting position again and started going as soon as the director shouted the instructions. She managed to get through the entire scene and breathed a sigh of relief as Mia approached with a bottle of water. "Good job, Kyoko-san," the blonde smiled. "We'll be heading back to the hotel after this and you'll need to change for dinner. There's someone who wants to meet you."

"Huh?" Kyoko blinked.

"They happened to have time in their schedule down here and found out that you were here," Mia said.

"Who is it?" Kyoko asked curiously.

"You'll find out soon enough," Mia said mysteriously.

Kyoko changed into a coral evening gown from the Chameleon line and reapplied her cosmetics, pulling together her professional mask. The chestnut extensions were still in her hair because she'd need them for tomorrow's shoot and she checked over her appearance carefully. Mia hadn't said anything else about who they were meeting for dinner, but Kyoko was getting used to the way her manager worked. Oftentimes what had been a clear schedule in the morning shifted to a meeting or a meet-and-greet with this or that professional in show business—directors, script writers, photographers, she'd lost count of how many people she'd met. Kyoko was still puzzled at how Mia managed to arrange for her to meet all these people, but her network was expanding with every meeting and she'd learned to adapt to it.

There was knock on her door and she moved to open, unsurprised to see Mia waiting outside. "Ah good, you're ready," she smiled. "Shall we?"

Kyoko nodded and followed Mia to the elevator, nodding courteously at those she passed in the hall. Mia hit the appropriate button on the elevator and they headed downstairs. They headed to the restaurant and were greeted by the maître d and immediately guided towards the back of the restaurant. "Who—" Kyoko began.

Her words cut off as Ren Tsuruga rose from the table with a smile. "Good evening, Mogami-san," he greeted her.

"Tsu-Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko exclaimed and then recovered herself and bowed. "Good evening."

He really shouldn't be shocked at Kyoko's transformation after knowing her this long and seeing her in so many different roles, but Ren found himself momentarily robbed of speech for an instant when Kyoko appeared in the evening gown. Kyoko carried herself with the usual elegance, but the air around her when she'd first come into sight was something he wasn't used to experiencing with Kyoko. A soft, mysterious air of a fine lady who'd just stepped out of one of Kyoko's beloved fairy tales, but with a sense of 'business' behind it as if she knew exactly who she was and what she was doing. That air dissolved almost as soon as she realized it was him standing at the table and Ren couldn't help but smile a little bit at that.

His dark gaze went to Mia Akizaki who was also dressed in a fine evening gown though the air around her was one that he was used to now that he'd seen her so many times since she took over the job of managing Kyoko. Mia bowed to him. "Good evening, Tsuruga-san," she greeted him. "There are measures in place to keep any floating paparazzi from realizing who is back here. Please enjoy your meal."

Ren watched Kyoko's eyes go wide as they flew to her manager's departing back and wondered idly if having dinner with him was really that horrible of an ordeal for her. Her expression shifted quickly and she turned to look at him again. "I'm sorry for troubling you…" she began.

"Mogami-san," he interrupted. "Isn't me who may be troubling you? You are, after all, shooting on location here and my job here doesn't start until tomorrow morning."

"No, Tsuruga-san never troubles me, I—" Kyoko cut herself off and flushed a bit.

Ren saw something flash across her expression, but it was immediately gone and he slipped into his gentlemanly habits and moved to the chair and pulled it out for her. "Please, sit," he murmured and she automatically moved to take the seat and a familiar scent teased his nose. "Royal Snow?"

Kyoko jumped at his words. "A-Akizaki-san said that she heard I liked it and so arranged to get a sample sent to me…" she mumbled. "Is it weird?"

Ren pushed the seat in gently and shook his head moving around the table. "It smells good," he said. "I didn't realize you were a fan of that scent…"

"The bottle reminded me of…Odette…" Kyoko admitted. "I'd never actually tried it until Akizaki-san brought the bottle to me, but once I put it on…"

Ren chuckled a bit recalling that the perfume came in a bottle in the shape of a crystal swan—it would be something Kyoko would love.

"What are you here for?" Kyoko asked curiously as she accepted the menu from the waiter.

"I am taking part in a commercial," Ren said. "I'm in between dramas until we start filming 'Windows' and there are only so many interviews and photo shoots I can do in that time so I agreed to do a commercial."

"What kind of commercial?" Kyoko asked curiously and then her hand flew to her lips. "I mean if you want to tell me about it, um…"

"I don't mind," Ren smiled. "It's a commercial for a bridal company. I'll be portraying a girl's dream husband or something along those lines according to the storyboards that Yashiro-san gave me."

"Oh, I bet it will be beautiful!" Kyoko breathed.

Ren could almost see the stars in her eyes and smiled. "I'm not sure what the wardrobe is going to look like yet, but if I get a chance next time we meet I'll tell you all about them."

Kyoko beamed at him and Ren's heart stuttered and he clenched his hand under the cover of the table to keep from reaching out and touching her face. Maybe meeting up with her tonight for dinner hadn't been his wisest decision, but whenever Kyoko was that far away from him right now he worried that she might get found by the person who destroyed her room. Speaking of which…

"How do you like your new apartment, Mogami-san?" he asked.

Kyoko looked startled at the question and then smiled and told him all about it and especially the garden that was on the roof.

The following morning's filming went without a hitch and Kyoko collapsed into the chair in her hotel room. "I did it."

Mia glanced up from the papers she was going through at the young actress. "Yes, you did, without a single NG," she said. "You were flawless this morning. We have some time, would you like to do some sightseeing? Our flight doesn't leave until tonight at nine."

Kyoko perked up immediately, her eyes flashing to her blond manager who smiled at her response. "I'll take that as a yes," Mia chuckled and straightened the papers and put them back in the folder she was going through. "I'll go make some arrangements then."

"Really?" Kyoko asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Yes, really," Mia laughed and got up.

She headed out of the room and Kyoko practically bounced to the window to look out over the city and drew out her phone to call Moko-san and tell her all about the day.

Mia returned a few minutes later. "Shall we go, Mogami-san?" she inquired. "You'll need this, the sun's bright today and you can't burn. 'Windows' starts filming in a couple days and Clara needs to be pale."

Kyoko accepted the parasol and followed Mia out the door. They exited the hotel and Mia pulled out a guidebook she'd acquired from the hotel desk and she and Kyoko flipped through it while waiting for the bus.

"It's such a beautiful day," Kyoko said, her eyes lighting.

"It definitely is," Mia agreed. "Enjoy this while you can, Mogami-san."

"Hmm?" Kyoko frowned glancing over at the other girl.

Mia held up three fingers and smiled. "In three months, you won't be able to be so carefree in public," she said. "Box 'R' will have made most of its run, the Chameleon photo spread will have been out for a little over two weeks, and your new commercial will debut."

Kyoko cocked her head at the other girl. "Do you really think it will be that much of a difference?" she asked. "I mean I've already done all that at least once except the modeling…"

"Trust me, Mogami-san," Mia smiled. "It will be a different world in three months."

Kyoko watched her uncertainly, but she couldn't help but let some of Mia's confidence roll over her. The bus arrived and they climbed on and discussed some of the things that they could see today.

They arrived at their first destination and Mia's phone rang. She frowned a bit and answered it. "Akizaki."

Mia stopped midstride and Kyoko bumped into her, but she didn't move. "Yes, we do happen to be in the area…" Mia said slowly. "Is that so? What does it require? Will someone be at the set to discuss the contract? Yes, I understand it's going to be done on the fly, but I'm not going to let her appear in something without proper contracts."

Kyoko glanced at her manager in surprise and Mia held up a finger and nodded, making an affirmative sound. "Yes, we're actually near that location right now, I'll find a cab and we should be there in the next fifteen minutes or so."

"Akizaki-san?" Kyoko asked as Mia snapped the phone shut.

"It looks like our sightseeing will be put off for a little bit, Kyoko-san," Mia said.

"Wha—" Kyoko frowned, Mia had switched addresses which meant that whatever came in over the phone was likely a job.

"It seems that there is another commercial filming today and the girl they got to play the part won't be able to make it in time and the other actors in the commercial don't have any other time to film in their schedule," Mia said. "Sawara-san knew that you were in this general vicinity and suggested that we take it on as a Love Me job."

"I-I left my work coveralls at the hotel…" Kyoko said worriedly.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Kyoko-san," Mia said.

"Take thirty, we're having a replacement actress come in, but it will take her a bit to get here and to get her into costume."

Ren glanced up at the director's orders and then shrugged and headed over to where Yashiro was waiting next to his chair. He settled down in it and Yashiro handed him a bottle of water. "Well, I guess this can't be helped," Yashiro muttered. "It was irresponsible for the actress not to get here as scheduled."

Ren twisted the cap off the water and sipped at it. "It wasn't necessarily something that could be helped," he said. "Though I wonder who they found at such short notice to do the part…"

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter as much who is playing the bride," Yashiro said. "The storyboards say that her face is never shown in any part of the commercial."

"True," Ren murmured.

"Well, you should probably eat while we wait," Yashiro said and pulled out one of the store-bought bentos that he'd picked up for Ren.

Ren accepted the box with a bit of a grimace, but opened it and dutifully began to eat.

A yellow cab pulled up to the curb not more than ten minutes later and there was a flash of pale blond hair as the passengers debarked. Yashiro's eyes widened a bit. "No way…" he said.

"Hmmm?" Ren inquired, glancing at his manager.

Yashiro had a familiar grin on his face and gestured towards the cab. Ren rose from his chair and turned to see a familiar head of chestnut hair step out of the cab and immediately put up a parasol. Kyoko was dressed in a flowing yellow skirt and a blouse with colored embroidery along the sleeves and instead of her usual boots she wore a pair of sandals that matched the skirt perfectly.

"Oh wow," Yashiro said. "Kyoko-chan looks really good today, doesn't she?"

Ren choked on the rice at his manager's comment and Yashiro pounded his back.

"Thank goodness you were nearby Kyoko-san, I don't know what I would've done if we had to try and find another actress on such short notice," the director said as Kyoko and Mia entered the air-conditioned room.

"Before anything else, contract, please?" Mia requested, holding out her hand.

"Ah, yes, of course, Akizaki-san," the director said. "I'm sure you'll find everything in order, do you mind if we get Kyoko-san into wardrobe as we go over it? We only have a limited amount of time…"

Mia took the contract and skimmed it before nodding and Kyoko was rushed off to one of the rooms set aside for the actors. The previous actress's name was removed from the nameplate and shredded and replaced by Kyoko's name. "What am I doing?" she asked.

"I'll explain as you're getting ready, Kyoko-san," a female voice said.

She turned and saw another woman enter the dressing room behind her.

"O-okay…" Kyoko said.

"The commercial is for a bridal shop and the concept is 'perfect wedding'," the woman explained. "However, only the groom's face will actually be seen during the commercial. The bride's face is to be obscured to make it easier for women who watch the commercial to imagine that it's her in the veil. Basically, all you have to do is walk gracefully down the aisle and hold hands with the groom while the 'priest' gives his blessing. It's not a hard task, but the gracefulness is important…"

Kyoko smiled a bit wryly—she could do graceful.

"All right, places, the bride is ready!"

The shout echoed over the set and Ren got up from his chair and moved into position after a brief touch up to his make-up and he turned his eyes to the figure in the fairytale dress that moved from the dressing rooms to the long red carpet. The girl had a long dark wig with a white lacy veil spattered with seed pearls obscuring her face, you couldn't even really make out her features, but he knew who was behind that veil and he couldn't help the soft smile that curved his lips. He knew that with this girl, something like this wasn't likely to happen, but for now it'd be fun to be caught in the moment.

Kyoko froze at the end of the carpet as her eyes landed on the person who was supposed to be her groom and a sharp gasp echoed. "I-is that Tsu-tsuruga-san?" she nearly squeaked.

The wardrobe assistant chuckled at her reaction. "Yes, I envy you today, Kyoko-sama, you get to pretend to be married to the number one actor in Japan. There's even supposed to be a kiss involved…"

"What?" Kyoko exclaimed, her voice cracking.

"You're objecting to having to kiss Tsuruga-sama?" the woman's voice was disbelieving.

"Ah, no, it's nothing like that," Kyoko said—well, it was sort of like that, even if it was acting, it was still kissing the person she had feelings for and she hadn't done any kissing scenes yet.

Worried gnawed at her insides, what happened if she messed everything up completely? What if she tripped and fell and broke her nose while going down the aisle? What if Tsuruga-san realized who he was supposed to be kissing and made _that_ face and asked if they could find another actress? What the hell was she, Kyoko Mogami, #1 member of the Love Me Section of LME doing acting in a commercial about a happy, fairytale wedding?

She could feel herself already shaking and getting wound up and nearly tripped on the runner for her first step.

"Kyoko-san, do you need a little more time?" the director asked worriedly.

"Ah…um…"

"Kyoko-san," Mia murmured approaching with the wardrobe assistant who was adjusting the gown. "Calm down. It will be fine. You can do this."

Kyoko took another deep breath and closed her eyes, shoving Kyoko Mogami into the back of her mind and trying to dig into the darkest portion of her psyche and pull up the happy girl she used to be before Shotaro stepped on her. For a moment, her grudge flared and she beat it back down. She would not allow him to ruin this for her.

When she opened them, she focused on Tsuruga-san and imagined for the moment that he felt he could have someone and she herself wasn't jaded beyond redemption and this was _their_ fairytale wedding (that would never happen in reality). Everything inside of her roared to life in objection to that fantasy, but she firmly told herself it was for a job and no one would see her anyway.

After a long moment, she listened to the director call out and started moving up the aisle, focused solely on Tsuruga-san and getting through this role without a mishap so she could go back to sightseeing.

Ren watched Kyoko from the end of the aisle and relaxed after first two NG takes—this role was probably far more difficult for Kyoko than it was for anyone else all things considered and given the kiss at the end of the commercial…he drew in a sharp breath at that thought, come to think of it, it would be Kyoko's first onscreen kiss. A part of him he kept forcefully off his expression danced at that—even if it wasn't the first, this time he would kiss her as the self she knew best though it would be for the cameras.

Kyoko finally made the final few steps and he stepped forward and accepted her hand from the actor who was playing her father and smiled at her tenderly. "You look beautiful," he murmured.

They turned and went through the motions of the wedding, the cameras mostly focused on him and on the beautiful wedding gown that Kyoko had donned for the occasion. When the time came, he carefully lifted the veil and saw Kyoko's frightened expression. "Don't worry," he said in a whisper so soft that the mics wouldn't pick it up.

Leaning down he captured her lips in a slow kiss, her lips were soft beneath his and he could taste the fruit flavored gloss they'd used. After a moment he pulled back and smiled his most charming smile as they turned to the extras in the pews and were declared 'husband and wife'.

Kyoko's face whitened as Tsuruga-san's lips closed in on hers and it was all she could do to keep from screaming and bolting away from the situation. Her hands tightened in Tsuruga-san's tuxedo jacket, her heart pounding as they kissed.

Only her professional pride kept her from exploding and she finished the rest of the commercial smoothly, her eyes dropping to the red runner as they headed down the aisle in a shower of bubbles. They reached the end of the aisle and the director yelled cut and declared that he'd take a look at the camera as he was afraid the sun was at the wrong angle.

 _Don't let there be another take, please?_ Kyoko pleaded silently with whichever deities were going to listen.

Ren accepted the water that Yashiro handed him and moved to Kyoko and lightly touched her shoulder. "Mogami-san, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Her voice was calm and controlled, but Ren could almost feel the turmoil under the surface and wondered idly what Kyoko had so wound up — aside from perpetrating the fact that a happy wedding could occur at all with her involved.

"We're going to have to do another take on the kiss and adjust the camera angles a bit, we need just the right silhouetting…" the director announced. "Please take your places for scene twenty-three."

The assistants fussed with her hair and make-up and Kyoko forced herself to move into position. Right now she would be the envy of almost every woman in the early 20s demographic, but all she could think about was she had to keep her feelings for Tsuruga-san firmly in check. He was her senior and he looked after her as anyone would their junior and she didn't have time for any kind of love relationship—even if she was so inclined.


	9. 1 Love Me Member

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ Running a little late this week, I apologize, but I was house sitting and like a dork I forgot to send myself copies of what I was working on so I didn't have access to them until today. This should be averted as I will be getting a laptop in very soon and I can take my writing _everywhere_ XD

As always, Skip Beat's not mine, it's Yoshiki Nakamura's and I'm just playing around in Skip Beat's version of Tokyo for now ^_^

Thanks for reading (and reviewing whenever you get a chance).

As another note, I also received a tablet recently so all those stories I promised to read and review in my R4R chapter (back in Ch. 2? ) will hopefully get read now that I Have a portable device I can easily read it in (it's hard reading on a cell phone ^^;). I just wanted to assure you that I haven't forgotten, I just haven't gotten a chance where I could break from writing and working to do it ^^;

Regards,

Yuki

PS: As a note, Mia speaks about several different languages (ie: Japanese, English, German, Russian, and Spanish) and has forever, I didn't just decide that she spoke the language out of the blue *laughs* The reason nowadays for it is that Drake Securities is an international firm, but Mia's very first story ten years ago was a bit darker. I've tossed out most of it, but her mastery of languages is one of the things that carries over.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Nine: #1 Love Me Member**_

It took four takes altogether, the director switching the camera angles each time and with every successive kiss, Kyoko hoped that she didn't give away any of her feelings to Tsuruga-san. It would undoubtedly lead to him mocking her and reminding her how she'd 'protect her virtue' and he would also invoke the "actor's rule of heart" when it came to kisses and tell her she was a failure of an actress acting like they meant something to her. She retreated willingly to her dressing room as soon as the director gave his OK and let the stylists help her remove the gown and make-up.

There was a knock on the door some time later and Kyoko swallowed heavily wondering who was on the other side. She didn't think that she could face Tsuruga-san again today.

"Kyoko-san, it's Akizaki, may I enter?"

Kyoko relaxed at the sound of Mia's voice on the other side of the door and called for her to enter as she put the finishing touches on her non-set makeup.

"If you take too much longer, we're not going to be able to get any sightseeing in," Mia observed.

Kyoko started and her manager cocked her head. "Is it that difficult for you to film with Tsuruga-san?" she asked. "We can't pull from 'Windows' but if you'd like I can get you out of further…"

"No! No, it's not that at all!" Kyoko exclaimed, waving her arms frantically. "I-it's complicated and…"

"You're in love with your senpai?" Mia's question was more of a statement.

"What? I—" Kyoko trailed off under the other woman's knowing look and her eyes dropped to the floor. "It will cause trouble for Tsuruga-san and my future career if I let any of that out and…and Tsuruga-san once said that he can't have anybody like that."

"Is that so?" Mia asked.

Ren paused by Kyoko's dressing room when he heard the voices inside, he'd decided to drop by and tell Kyoko good-bye, but the words he heard from the other side of the dressing room door froze him in his tracks. The words tumbled through his mind as he worked to grasp exactly what was being said and he frowned at the last bit, he'd only really voiced that to one person aside from the president…apparently he wasn't the only one who needed to come clean in regards to other personas.

"Ren?" Yashiro said, bumping into his broad back. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, glancing back at his manager.

He took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart and moved to the door and rapped on it lightly. "Who is it?"

Mia's voice.

"Tsuruga," he answered and the door opened to a pale-faced Kyoko and he simply smiled at her. "Good work today, Mogami-san, because of your perseverance I think the commercial will turn out well."

Kyoko quickly shook her head and bowed deeply. "No, if the commercial comes out right it is all thanks to Tsuruga-san."

Ren was pulling all of his acting skills together to hide his reaction to the revelation that he'd heard behind the door. Kyoko obviously wasn't ready to come out with anything and they still had some secrets in between them. For all that he should be angry that she hid the fact that she was Bou from him, a lot of strange coincidences with the chicken suit suddenly made more sense. She'd come to him the only way she knew how when he'd needed someone to voice his thoughts to—even if she hadn't a clue it was herself that she'd coached him to go after during _Dark Moon_.

"What does your schedule look like for the rest of the day?" Ren inquired, glancing at Mia.

"Until we took this job, the schedule was clear until the flight back to Tokyo around nine," Mia replied. "We'd planned on doing some sight-seeing since Mogami-san hasn't spent much time in Okinawa."

Ren looked at Yashiro and the manager pulled out his scheduling book to double check a few things. "You have an interview at seven tonight followed by a meeting with the photographers for the job tomorrow."

"Would you like to join us for some sightseeing then, Tsuruga-san?" Mia inquired. "Provided you can make yourself sufficiently unnoticeable?"

Ren's eyes focused on Kyoko and he tried to decipher her expression, but, on a selfish whim, he smiled at Mia. "I'm sure something can be figured out," he said. "If Mogami-san doesn't mind, I would not object."

The ball was in Kyoko's court now.

 _Did he hear what I was talking about with Mia?_

The question ricocheted through Kyoko's mind even as they made their way towards the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Yashiro-san had agreed to leave Tsuruga-san in Mia's care for the time being to allow a better chance of being concealed as he was better known than Mia was even if he was only the manager. Tsuruga-san was tense as Mia took the driver's seat in the car she rented to drive them to their destinations.

"Are you all right, Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked anxiously from the back seat.

He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "I'm not used to letting someone else take the driver's seat in a private car," he said, "and I've never been driven by Akizaki-san so…"

Mia chuckled. "I assure you I am perfectly competent behind the wheel, Tsuruga-san or Takarada-taichou would not trust me with his rising star," she said.

They arrived at the aquarium and Mia went to purchase the tickets and returned after several minutes. "I've arranged a short respite up in the restaurant to recharge your energy before we do the whirlwind tour of the aquarium," she said. "It's after four so we don't have much time to admire everything, but we can see at least some of it."

Mia led the way through the aquarium and they passed the admission gate and headed up to the restaurant first and were immediately ushered to a quiet corner. The waiter that served them was quick and efficient and only betrayed the possibility he realized who was sitting in front of him with a slight widening of his eyes, but he'd been told to act with discretion. Tea and light snacks were immediately brought to the table and Mia smiled at Tsuruga-san. "You don't need to feel obligated to eat much as I know that you have a dinner engagement later, but both of you should at least eat a little."

Kyoko wasn't entirely sure her twisting stomach would be able to keep anything down, but she forced herself through the motions, her eyes going constantly to Tsuruga-san as she tried to figure out if he'd heard anything before coming through the doors of the dressing room. Their interactions since the dressing room were the same as they always were with Tsuruga-san teasing her lightly about things and pointing out various sites as they passed them.

After their tea, they headed down into the main part of the aquarium and Tsuruga-san stayed fairly close behind her and Kyoko fought to keep her heart rate down as they made their way through. However, her self-consciousness soon faded away as they entered the wonder of the aquarium. In all of her seventeen years, Kyoko had never been in some place like this and there was just so much to take in. Before long, the awkwardness in her conversation with Tsuruga-san and Mia faded away and she ebulliently took up the conversation her wonder boiling over and causing both of the people with her to smile.

Their time at the aquarium was short and when they exited, Kyoko was laden with bags from the souvenir shop for Moko-san and Amamiya-san as well as for Maria-chan and the couple that ran the Darumaya. They drove through the streets of Okinawa as Mia followed the directions given to her by Yashiro-san before they'd left and they pulled up a full twenty minutes early to find Yashiro already waiting.

The other manager relaxed as the car door opened to expel his client and Mia got out herself and smiled at Yashiro over the top of the car. "Did you think I would mar Tsuruga-san's record, Yashiro-san?" she teased.

"If I was worried, I wouldn't have let you take him on your own," Yashiro retorted and Mia laughed.

Ren watched Mia thoughtfully and then smiled. "Thank you for today," he said. "I haven't done something like that in a long time."

Mia smiled. "I'm all for helping true love's course, Mr. Tsuruga," she said in Russian, startling the actor—not many knew that he could speak that language, "within the boundaries created by people and careers."

"I'll break the boundaries down…eventually," he said in the same language.

"Carefully and discretely I hope," Mia said and then switched back to Japanese. "Thank you for allowing me to escort you Tsuruga-san."

"Good luck with your job today, Tsuruga-san," Kyoko said, rolling her window down.

Ren smiled. "Thank you for allowing me to join you today, Mogami-san," he said. "I'll look forward to seeing you on the 'Windows' set in a few days."

Ren watched Mia get back in the car and Kyoko rolled her window up. After they pulled away from the curb he turned to Yashiro. "Shall we?" he asked.

Yashiro nodded and they made their way into the TV studio.

Kyoko settled into her seat for the flight to Tokyo and was startled when Mia pulled out an iPod and ear buds and handed them to her. "This is possibly our next job, Kyoko-san," she said. "The artist of this song would like you to appear in his PV for it."

"What?" Kyoko blinked. "A PV? Like what I did…"

She trailed off not wanting to spoil the rest of a very good day with a thought of that particular person.

"Yes, but this is for someone else," Mia said. "It will be the first single off his first full solo album and he'd like you to be in the video."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

Mia chuckled. "It's not to try and imitate Sho Fuwa if you're worried. Honestly, he could care less about him. There is room for at least a few people on the charts though he will likely aim for the number one spot that Sho Fuwa has occupied for the past several weeks. He saw the photo from when you were on the set of _Ring Doh_ and was fascinated by your portrayal of Choko and he would like a similar image for his PV. However, he wants you to listen to the song first and see if you like it before you agree to anything. He doesn't want you performing in something you won't enjoy seeing played."

Uncertainly, Kyoko put the earbuds in her ear and hit play.

" _When you're lost in a painful dream/Where nothing is as it seems/Turn around,/I'll be there/Come to me_."

"It's a beautiful song," she finally said, pulling the earbuds out. "Will I be meeting the artist first or when I step foot on set."

"We've arranged to have lunch tomorrow after you're out of school and before you go to the Box 'R' set," Mia replied. "He and his producer would like to discuss the concepts for the video with you."

"Okay."


	10. Another Fairy Prince?

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ Sorry it's a bit later than I intended, but life has a way of sneaking up and eating entire days if I'm not careful. Anyway, I present to you chapter ten. I hope you enjoy it ^_^

On another note, next month is November and that means it's National Novel Writing Month, what does this mean to you? Unfortunately, it means I'm only going to have one update for you next month instead of the standard two or three. Don't fret though, the posting schedule should be back to normal come December though I'm going to have to ask your forgiveness if the chapter gets released later than I say it's going to be-mostly because I work retail and the next two months are going to be a horror story waiting to happen. I am going to attempt to put together a holiday fan fiction, but I'm not sure if it will be a Skip Beat! fanfic (though doing a birthday fic for Kyoko might be fun) or one of my other fandoms-we'll see which muse decides to waltz in after the insanity of Nanowrimo.

Thank you for your patience and for reading (and reviewing if you get a chance) my story.

Have a wonderful month and if you're also doing Nanowrimo good luck! I hope to catch you on the flip side with 50K written ^_^

The next update will drop around November 18th.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Ten: Another Fairy Prince?**_

Kyoko went through the motions at school, writing down notes and hoping that she got the pertinent things down. It felt weird being at school after an absence of a few days, but that was standard for this particular school. She'd taken care of the homework Mia collected for her after her jobs were over and turned in the work when she was finally at school.

After class let out, Kyoko headed for the front of the school and spotted Mia leaning against the car and headed her way. Mia was on the phone when she arrived and glanced up at her and held up a finger indicating it would be a moment. Kyoko nodded and went to the back of the car and got in, digging out the script for the day's shooting on Box 'R' and began reading through it.

A few minutes later, Mia opened the driver's door and slid into her seat and shut the door. "My apologies, our meeting spot has shifted, but we'll still get to the set on time," she said, starting the car.

"Okay," Kyoko smiled.

Mia parked the car several minutes later outside of a cozy looking restaurant and turned it off. Before Mia finished unfastening her seatbelt, the door was opened for Kyoko by a blond young man who helped her out with a broad smile. He was not as tall as Ren and had striking gray-green eyes—eyes that looked exactly like Mia's Kyoko realized when the blond woman got out of the car. Mia rested her chin on top of her hands resting on the car door frame and gave the blond man a long-suffering look. "'Lex, you can't just burst out like that," Mia scolded him and glanced at the tall man behind Alex. "Syo, I expected more of you."

"Have you ever tried to keep him in one place when he's that excited, Mia?" the man asked—he had an odd accent on his words even if they were Japanese.

"Yes, I have, and succeeded quite well, thank you," Mia said with a laugh and then gave Kyoko an apologetic look as she shut the door. "Kyoko-san, this is Akizaki Alex, also known at A-chan, and his personal assistant Syo Finnegan."

Kyoko's eyes went wide. "You're Akizaki-san's older brother?" she asked.

Alex chuckled and shook his head. "Younger," he said, "well, sort of anyway. We're twins—she was just born first. Big brother is actually a lot older than us."

"Let's go inside before the girls realize that A-chan is out in the middle of a public sidewalk," Mia scowled at her brother.

Alex glanced up and saw a couple girls whispering to each other and consulting their phones. "Uh, yeah, let's get inside," he said and they headed for the door before the girls could get the nerve up to move in or call out to him.

They entered the restaurant and were immediately shown to a private room in the back where two other people were also waiting for them. They were introduced as Alex's producer for Route 99 records and the videographer for the video, but Kyoko couldn't remember their names when asked later. A third man entered not long afterwards and Kyoko's eyes went wide, he was taller than Tsuruga-san and twice as big. She couldn't help but draw back just a bit as dark green eyes settled on her. "Alex's head of security, Zach," Mia murmured to her. "He's harmless as long as you're not trying to hurt Alex."

"O-okay…" Kyoko said.

"Had to disperse a bit of a crowd out front," the man announced, glaring at Alex. "I told you not to go out there to greet them. Inside was soon enough."

He spoke in English and had the same odd accent that the personal assistant had though it was more pronounced.

"No one was hurt so it's all right," Alex said cheerfully. "Sit down with us."

"I already ate," the man named Zach said, switching to Japanese after an apologetic look to Kyoko.

Alex looked like he was going to argue, but then turned his attention to Kyoko. "Everything here is good, but I particularly recommend the curry, Kyoko-san," he said. "Please don't worry about cost. The company is covering it."

"I—" Kyoko began.

"And even if the company wasn't covering it, a gentleman never lets a girl pay for her own meal if he can help it," Alex grinned.

Kyoko turned her eyes to the menu after giving Mia an uncertain look. "Don't worry, Kyoko-san, he's mostly harmless," her manager said, "and he's right about the curry. It's really good here."

Kyoko shook her head a bit watching Alex across the table. He'd literally ordered half the menu and when it arrived set into it like he was going to eat all of it. It seemed strange to see someone put away so much food, especially after watching Tsuruga-san for so long.

After the immediate hunger was sated they settled down to discuss the job. "The concept for this is mostly A-chan's idea," the videographer said. "He's looking for something that looks like Feudal Japan with a high-ranking noblewoman. The noblewoman is charmed by one of her father's stewards, but is reluctant to be with him due to their differences in statuses. After a rebellion, the girl is left in dire circumstances and the steward she rejected comes and saves her."

Kyoko's eyes lit up at the idea that she'd be able to play such a fine lady, but then she frowned. "Why does she need him to save her?" she asked. "She's probably perfectly capable of saving herself…"

Alex looked shocked for a moment and then began to laugh. After a long moment he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes and replied. "It isn't necessarily that she needs him to save her, but she needs his support to save herself," he explained. "Sometimes when you're going at it alone, everything can be overwhelming and it's sometimes difficult to see past all the darkness around you. Having someone you can depend on can help even if you're going to fly on your own afterwards."

He cocked his head at her. "You know what I mean, don't you, Kyoko-san?" he asked.

Ren Tsuruga's face flickered across her mind and Kyoko shook her head fiercely. "You don't think so?" Alex questioned.

Kyoko realized what she'd just done and shook her head again. "It's not that, I just had something else occur to me," she said, "I'm sorry. I think I…"

Alex reached across the table and impulsively caught her hand, releasing it immediately when she stiffened. "Don't turn me down, please, Kyoko-san?" he said. "I think you'll like the final results."

"I wasn't going to turn it down," Kyoko said and he gave her a bright smile that nearly rivaled Tsuruga-san's.

"So you'll take the job?" Alex asked.

"Alex, don't pressure her so much," the producer frowned.

"No, it's fine," Kyoko said quickly. "Of course I'll do it—I mean, um…"

She looked over at Mia suddenly realize it was most likely the manager's decision on it, but the blond girl smiled. "It is ultimately up to you what you want to do, Kyoko-san," she said. "If the project interests you, we'll get it scheduled."

"Yes, please, I'd like to do it," Kyoko said.

"Another music video?"

Tsuruga-san's voice came over the line as Kyoko relaxed in her dressing room between takes. "Yes," Kyoko said, "but it's not his."

She berated herself mentally for feeling the urge to add that part especially when a long silence followed.

"Who is it for?" Ren asked curiously.

"He'll be releasing the single under the name 'Akihiko', but he's actually Akizaki-san's brother who is also A-chan," Kyoko said.

"I don't think I know that name," Ren said.

"He played for a band called DDK before they left to go to the United States to debut there," Kyoko said. "I've never heard any of their music, but I think I'm going to ask for some of it from Mia because I'm curious. The song the video is for is really pretty…"

She launched into a description of the content of the video and she almost swore she heard Tsuruga-san chuckle both through the phone and outside her door. There was a knock on the door and Kyoko frowned. "Who is it?"

"Tsuruga."

Her eyes went wide and the phone in her hand went dead. She nearly tripped over her own feet to get to the door and opened it. Ren Tsuruga smiled at her. "I got permission to watch the last scenes of Box 'R' being filmed," he informed her. "I wanted to see how things were working on this drama for you and Akizaki-san obliged me by talking to Anna-san. Yashiro-san commanded me to take a mini-vacation while we wait to start filming _Windows_."

"But, if you're on vacation, shouldn't you be relaxing at a resort or something?" Kyoko asked.

Ren purposefully stifled the urge to reply with 'only if you were with me' and cocked his head at Kyoko. "Do you not want me around that much, Mogami-san?" he asked.

"Ah…no…I…" she began.

"I haven't often seen you acting outside of _Dark Moon_ or in the final cuts," Ren said. "It's something I'd like to see…"

Kyoko swallowed as he gave her that gentle smile that he only directed at her outside of his jobs. "I, um…I don't mind," she said in a small voice.

"I'm glad," Ren smiled. "Shall I escort you to the set?"

"A-are you sure that you want to?" Kyoko asked. "I mean they…"

"I don't mind talking to others or giving a few autographs or photographs," Ren said. "There aren't many extras on set for this last part until the graduation ceremony."

"You know the filming schedule?" Kyoko gaped.

"Akizaki-san was kind enough to share it with me when I requested it," Ren said.

Kyoko hesitated for a moment and then smiled shyly up at him. "Thank you for your kindness," she said and bowed.

Kyoko's smile struck Ren hard and he took a deep breath and they began to make their way to the set. Kyoko talking to him excitedly about some of the other aspects of filming until they got there and she immediately shifted gears into Natsu. Once she was on the set, Ren settled against the wall next to where Mia Akizaki was watching her client.

"You're brave to venture out like this, Tsuruga-san," Mia observed. "Even if they are more professional about it, you're still going to find yourself under siege once they're out of acting mode and there may be interesting questions posed from you suddenly appearing on a set where Mogami-san is filming."

" _Windows_ casting will be announced soon, I'm merely observing my kouhai's performance to gauge where I'm going to have to guide her when we're costars," Ren said. "It's been a while since we filmed together on _Dark Moon_."

"They might buy it," Mia murmured.

"I don't care if they buy it or not," Ren said. "They haven't found the person responsible for destroying Kyoko's room and my schedule is currently clear enough I can make sure she's safe with my own eyes."

"Ah," Mia murmured.

"You probably don't understand…" Ren said quietly.

"No, I understand," Mia said. "Subtlety isn't your strong suit right now…"

Ren gave her a brilliant smile. "I am not sure I understand what you're implying, Akizaki-san, please explain…"

Mia simply shook her head and turned her attention back to the set as the director gave orders to start.

After they wrapped filming for Box 'R' for the day, Kyoko vanished into her dressing room to change.

Kyoko exited her dressing room and found Tsuruga-san waiting for her, leaning against the wall casually and glanced around for her manager. "Akizaki-san had an emergency come up and I offered to take you home," he explained.

"Tsuruga-san, you don't ne—" she began.

"I know I don't need to, Mogami-san," he said quietly. "I want to. Please?"

Kyoko hesitated for a moment, but then decided it wouldn't hurt. "If it doesn't trouble you…" she said.

Ren smiled at her and gently touched her shoulder to start her down the hall, dropping his hand a few seconds later. "You'll have to give me directions to your apartment," he said after she settled into his car. "I didn't have a chance to actually map out the route."

"You don't have to take me all the way to my apartment," Kyoko exclaimed.

"Mogami-san, please humor me tonight?" he asked.

Kyoko found herself defenseless at the pleading look that seemed to have crossed over from their time as the Heel siblings and gave in. "All right," she said.

She gave instructions and when he pulled into the parking below the building, she hesitated for a moment then drew her courage together. "It's not much, but would you join me for dinner tonight?" she asked. "That way I can make sure you have at least one proper meal while you're on vacation."

Ren nodded and they climbed out of the car and she led the way to the elevator and they took the elevator up to her apartment. Kyoko told Ren to wait for a moment and glanced out to make sure there wasn't anyone around and then they bolted for her door. She unlocked it and urged him to enter first before following and shutting the door immediately afterwards.

Ren's eyes moved over the apartment and he frowned a bit. It didn't feel like Kyoko at all. "It's not completely done yet," Kyoko said apologetically. "All the furniture was already here and I haven't really been home to organize things. Please, come this way."

Ren followed her and she pointed at the dining room table and she went about pulling out the ingredients for stir fry. He started a conversation about her current projects and her schedule for the next day which she cheerfully shared with him.

Finally, dinner was finished and served with a flourish and she settled down at the table across from him and silence descended as they ate. After dinner, Ren moved and took the dishes from her hand. "You cooked, I'll clean. I can do that much," he said.

Kyoko started to protest, but ended up compromising and working with Ren to get the dishes cleaned and put away. After it was all gone, she felt momentarily bereft as she realized he would have to head home now—she found that she missed interacting with Ren every day.

"Um…thank you for the ride. It's probably time for you to go home…" she started.

Ren caught her gaze and took a deep breath. "Kyoko-chan, we need to talk," he said, purposefully switching to the address that he used as "Corn".


	11. The Truth Behind Corn and a Chicken

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** And the moment we've all been waiting for...what happens when Kyoko finds out-or at least my variation of it (for this story) *laughs*

Though along with our heroes, I also have a confession...with this update I have completely eaten through the buffer I had on this story (which translates to the next chapter isn't written-it's started, planned, but not finished). What this means is that December is likely going to be a one update month as well-I am sorry, I really didn't want to do that, but I don't like just throwing a chapter up as soon as I finish it. Since I'm my own editor I have to go through check my grammar, make sure I didn't skip words in my enthusiasm typing it (I do that often), and do continuity checks against what I've written previously amongst other things to make sure I'm posting something that I feel is decent writing.

While I will only be updating this fiction once next month, I do intend to write a holiday fic (if you'd like it to be a Skip Beat! Kyoko's Birthday/Christmas fic, let me know and feel free to give me some prompts if you'd like). I intend to take December and get a bunch of things completed or at least further down the road of completion so I can post on schedule starting in January since I'm already mostly in the habit of writing every day thanks to National Novel Writing Month and hope to keep that momentum through the coming year.

With that in mind, the next update will drop around December 16.

Thank you for your patience and for taking time out of your day to read (and review if you get a chance) my story.

You are awesome.

Regards,

Yuki

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: The Truth Behind Corn and a Chicken**

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko said hesitantly.

"Hizuri Kuon," Ren corrected her quietly. "It's my real name. You've been wondering haven't you?"

"I, um…" she began, "but…"

"Yashiro told me you'd asked about it on the ride from the airport after you left Guam," Ren said and he gave her a small smile, obviously it wasn't quite registering with Kyoko what he was telling her. "May I use your bathroom?" he asked.

She nodded and gave him directions and he vanished down the hall and Kyoko tried desperately to wrap her mind around what was happening. It felt like forever later when the door to the bathroom opened again and the person that emerged wasn't the Ren Tsuruga that she knew. He was wearing Tsuruga-san's clothes, his face and build were Tsuruga-san's but blond hair crowned his head and green eyes watched her almost uncertainly.

"C-corn?" she gasped disbelievingly.

"Kuon," Ren corrected her, "though I will always be your fairy prince if you want me to, Kyoko-chan."

"But…your eyes…hair…" she stuttered.

"Contacts and tonight it was a wig," Ren said. "Normally Miss Woods just dyes it and we keep it that way."

Kyoko landed on the couch with a _flump_ and stared at the man in front of her in shock. In the back of her mind, she knew she should be absolutely furious with Tsuruga-san, Corn, whoever the person in front of her was, but right now she was just confused. Why would Tsuruga-san suddenly turn into Corn unless… "Did you take on Tsuruga-san's appearance to meet with me again today?" Kyoko asked.

Ren heaved a sigh. "I am Corn," he stated, "we met in Kyoto when Kyoko-chan was six. I was visiting with my father Kuu Hizuri who was in Japan for a promotional tour. We met again in Guam while I was resting before picking up the filming of Tragic Marker again, which is why I was like this when we met then."

"Wait, then…" Kyoko's face paled. "Y-you kissed me…"

"Yes, I did," Ren said.

"But then you…" Kyoko's voice trailed off and suddenly her eyes narrowed. "You were making a fool out of me, weren't you Tsuruga-san? You pretended to be kind and to care about me. You really do hate me. I should've known better…"

"No it wasn't like that at all!" he said, slicing his hand through the air sharply.

"Get out," Kyoko said in a low voice and pointed at the door.

"Not until you understand," Ren stated softly. "Nothing I did was with the intention to cause you hurt. And I meant every single word I said as Corn that day in Guam."

…Every single word I said in Guam…

Kyoko's mind went back to their conversation and one line stood out sharply.

 _I love Kyoko-chan._

"I promised myself in Guam that next time we met and the timing would work, I would tell you everything, Mogami-san. Will you please listen to me?" he asked.

Everything inside her screamed to kick him out of her apartment and never see him again, except…

She swallowed heavily. Never seeing him again was impossible as they worked for the same agency and had a series to film together and…

…and she loved him and not being able to see or speak to Tsuruga-san again would break her even worse than this.

Her eyes moved up to his. "I'll try," she stated.

"Then you'll also explain Bou to me?" he requested.

Kyoko nearly jumped out of her skin. "How…"

"Tonight no more lies, okay, Kyoko-chan?" he said quietly and moved to sit on the couch on the opposite side of her. "And if you still hate me after we talk, I will withdraw from _Windows_ and will never bother you again."

Kyoko's heart shattered at that and she closed her eyes, tears seeping out from under her eyelids. "Tsuruga-san…"

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. "Please tell me."

Their conversation lasted deep into the night and Kyoko's head still reeled at the avalanche of information that Ren Tsuruga—no Kuon Hizuri—dumped into her lap. She'd eventually explained about Bou and Ren was surprisingly okay with the events surrounding the chicken suit. Eventually, silence fell between the two and they regarded each other from opposite ends of the couch.

Finally, Ren rose from the couch. "I'll leave now," he said. "I will withdraw from…"

"No," Kyoko interrupted him.

"What?"

The word slipped out in English and Kyoko stood up.

"I'm not angry," she said—and to her shock, she realized she really wasn't. "I just—I don't know where you want to go from here…or where I want to go…"

Ren closed the distance between them. "There's one more thing I haven't told you, Mogami-san," he said.

Kyoko stiffened. "I thought you said—"

"I love you," he declared. "And what I said about not being allowed to have anyone…if it's you, it's all right."

Kyoko's hands clenched at her sides. "But…"

"How do you feel about me, Mogami-san?" he asked gently, stepping in closer and Kyoko took an instinctive step back.

She swallowed heavily, surely it wouldn't be that easy, but…

 _Tonight, no more lies, okay, Kyoko-chan?_

"I love you too…" Kyoko mumbled. "But I'm scared."

"You and me both," Ren said softly, his hand coming up to smooth along her jaw. "We can take things as slow as you want, Kyoko-chan…"

"Kyoko," she said softly. "And I don't have time for love right now there's…"

"I'll wait," Ren declared. "Whatever you want, Kyoko, I'll do."

"Can I have time?" she asked.

"As much as you'd like," Ren said.

"Tsuruga-san…" Kyoko started.

"Ren, Kuon…either works, I will answer to both for you," Ren said with a soft smile.

"This is going to get complicated isn't it, Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko said not quite able to address her senpai so informally all the sudden.

"Probably," he agreed.

Encouraged by the fact she hadn't moved away from his touch on her cheek, he moved in a couple steps closer, and leaned in. He hesitated just for a moment with their lips a breath apart and then Kyoko stood on tiptoe and their lips met in a slow, warm kiss.

He pulled back after a long moment, his eyes meeting hers.

"Kyoko?" he asked.

"You should probably go home, Tsuruga-san," she said. "Even if you're on vacation, I'm not."

"May I come see you on set tomorrow?" he asked.

She hesitated before finally nodding her head slowly. "I'd like that, I think, but…" she said.

"It will be as Ren Tsuruga I will be there," he said and smiled softly. "Kuon Hizuri exists only behind closed doors where we don't have everyone looking on to make up stories. Good night."

"Good night…Kuon."

Kyoko got into the car the following morning and Mia glanced at her through the rearview mirror. "Is something wrong, Mogami-san?" she asked.

Kyoko started at the words and met her manager's eyes through the mirror. "Ah, no," she said quickly and pulled out a smile. "I'm perfectly fine."

Kyoko hadn't slept much after Tsuruga-san left—it was still hard to just change the name she referred to him by just like that. It had dawned on her afterwards why Tsuruga-san's real last name seemed so familiar and she wanted desperately to ask him about it and about his connection to "father". She thought about the boy she'd portrayed while working with Kuu Hizuri and then it crashed on her why he'd been so thrilled when she'd said that Ren had said she portrayed boy Kuon's feelings perfectly.

Now that she knew, in retrospect she was able to pick up several clues dropped her way over the past year. She knew it would be easy to whip up her own anger at herself into anger at Tsuruga-san and everyone that had perpetrated the masquerade on her, but she knew she'd regret it later and she didn't want to have any more regrets.

"Mia, what would you do if you found out that someone you were very close to had been hiding a secret from you that would have affected everything?" Kyoko finally said.

"It depends on the reason for keeping the secret," Mia said. "If it was to protect something I'd be more inclined to forgive the lies, but if it was done out of spite I wouldn't be moved that way."

Kyoko fell silent again.

"Today is your last day of filming for Box 'R'. After filming is complete, we have a floating meeting with Sawara-san and a meeting to discuss the other drama you selected to film along with _Windows_ ," Mia said, starting the rundown of Kyoko's schedule. "After that, we have a dinner meeting with Mariah. She's the model I told you about that offered to help you with the Chameleon line. If what she teaches isn't sufficient, we'll go back to the LME Modeling division when we get back from the video location so you can take some more classes there. I'll swing by the school while you're filming and pick up your assignments so that you can work on them during the trip to the video location tomorrow."

"Are we driving to the location or flying?" Kyoko asked.

"Driving. It's not far and we'll be staying overnight and going to the second site the following day," she said. "So be sure and be packed tonight before you go to sleep."

"Of course," Kyoko replied.

They arrived at the set and Kyoko headed in while Mia pulled away from the curb and she smiled at her costars when she spotted them. Today would be the last day they would all be on set for filming. She headed into hair and makeup and found herself under a barrage of questions about why Ren Tsuruga would show up on the set of a drama he wasn't in.

"Tsuruga-san was asked to help me with my acting for the next drama by the President because Box 'R' isn't doing as well in the ratings as we hoped," Kyoko finally said.

"Well it is up against some pretty strong competition this year," one of the crewmembers said knowingly. "Box 'R' was slotted the same night as some of the returning popular dramas from last season so it will be harder to match up."

The subject quickly turned back to Ren Tsuruga and Kyoko focused on composing herself for Natsu for one of the last times and ignored their chatter. When they finally finished, Kyoko rose from the chair and looked at her appearance in the mirror. Her fingers came up and rested against the replica of Princess Rosa and she was glad she wouldn't have to see the hateful facsimile of it again. Of everything she lost in the vandalism that was the one that she still resented the most. She exited the dressing room and headed for the set.

Ren slipped onto the set with as little notice as he could manage to watch the last of Kyoko's scenes in the drama unfold. Though the dramas weren't usually filmed in order, it was decided that these last scenes where Natsu found herself completely abandoned would be a good finale for Kyoko's time on the set. He watched Kyoko go through the scenes, amazed once more at just how far she'd come in the past year and a half. Looking around, he noticed that Mia Akizaki didn't seem to be present and frowned.

When they broke to change up the set, Kyoko chattered with her costars for a little while before she finally made her way to him. "Good morning, Tsuruga-san," she said.

There was a tinge of uncertainty in her voice that hadn't been there previously and Ren smiled. "Good morning, Mogami-san. How is the filming going so far?"

"Good," Kyoko replied. "It's strange to think that after I'm done today I will have completed my second drama and Natsu will go into the same place as Mio."

She touched the necklace she wore and Ren realized that it had been made to look like the necklace that had been stolen from Kyoko's room. "They made a replica?" Ren asked.

Kyoko nodded. "It breaks at the end of scene eighty-one and then I won't have to wear it anymore," she said.

They chatted a bit more and Kyoko was called back to the set.

"Has there been any more progress on finding the person who vandalized her room?" Ren asked, hearing a light footstep behind him he correctly identified as Kyoko's manager.

"No, not yet," Mia said. "The police have put it on the back burner as no one was hurt during the break-in, but they're still working on it."

"Also, why are you leaving Kyoko alone?" he asked her, turning to look at her.

"I was picking up Kyoko's assignments from school for her to work on during the commutes today and tomorrow," Mia replied. "They tightened security here after the incident so she's safe. If I had any doubts, I assure you I wouldn't have left. I've spoken to a private detective as well to try and track down the person who did it and especially Mogami-san's necklace. It hasn't shown up in any pawnshops or jeweler's stores yet. I've circulated pictures of the necklace to most of the stores around here just in case it shows up, but at this point I wonder if the person is keeping it for a prize."

"Where is Mogami-san scheduled to be next?" he asked.

Mia chuckled. "You can't follow her everywhere she goes while you're on vacation, Tsuruga-san," she said. "People will start talking and it will take some creative damage control to keep anything from coming of it. I assure you that she'll be well-protected until I deliver her to the _Windows_ set three days from now."

Ren didn't like that response at all.


	12. Come to Me

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Good day to you. Here is chapter twelve as promised ^_^

I hope December is going well for all of you.

The next chapter will drop around 6th.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story (and review if you get a chance).

I think there's about 5-6 chapters left to finish out the story and I thank you very much for sticking with me for this long ^_^

I still hope to have a holiday fic out around December 25th ^_^

If I don't, I hope whatever holiday you celebrate wherever you are is filled with love and warmth.

I am looking forward to 2016 and hope that I continue to provide some entertainment for those who read my stories ^_^

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve: Come to Me**

Kyoko was concentrating on her reading for the next test coming up when the smell of brine hit her through the windows that Mia had cracked open once they got far enough out of the city and her eyes flashed to the vista beyond her window. The book dropped into her lap and she stared out over the ocean that stretched just beyond the cliff face on the other side of the vehicle. "Oh wow," she breathed.

"Breathtaking isn't it?" Mia asked.

"Y-yes, it's beautiful," Kyoko said. "Where are we filming Akizaki-san?"

"You'll see when we get there," Mia said. "I assure you it will be beautiful beyond words."

Kyoko was quiet for a long moment as they continued to trundle along the road. "It's so open," she said.

"The people that own it picked up a large swath of acreage when they came up for sale to keep it from being terraformed into another suburb of Tokyo," Mia said.

"There will be so many fairies out here," Kyoko breathed.

Mia looked startled for a moment and then chuckled and Kyoko blushed to the roots of her hair. "I mean…I…"

Mia shook her head. "You'll probably find a lot of fairies up here," she said with a smile. "I'll see that during one of the breaks in filming you get to explore a bit. There are some truly lovely places here."

"Have you been here before, Mia-san?" Kyoko asked.

Mia chuckled softly. "You could say that," she said. "We'll be there in about twenty more minutes."

Kyoko trailed off into silence, her homework forgotten in her lap as she stared out over the expanse of ocean. The sunlight gilded Mia's blond hair and Kyoko's thoughts turned to the meeting last night. If it wasn't for the fact that they shared the exact same eyes, Kyoko likely wouldn't have guessed that Mariah Calloway was related to Mia at all. The other woman had been taller than Mia by a fair bit and her hair, while blond was more of a strawberry blond with unruly curls and she'd a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. Nowhere in Kyoko's imagination had she been able to reconcile the woman before her with the elegant model in the photos that Mia presented her with before Mariah actually showed up.

"And that's the trick, Mogami-san," Mariah had grinned as soon as the words of disbelief passed Kyoko's lips. "You have to project a certain aura or feeling when you're working, but unlike in acting you can't convey it in words. You convey it in the way you carry yourself, the way you look at the camera, and in the little aspects of your body language. You use all those in acting without a doubt, but you have to up your arsenal when you're in front of a camera."

As an illustration, Mariah invited Kyoko and Mia to come with her on a late night shoot that was scheduled after dinner. After apologizing to her younger sister about imposing on her, Mariah talked Mia into giving her a ride to the shoot rather than her usual mode of transportation and slid in next to Kyoko. While they'd been driving, Mariah pulled out a folder and illuminated by the book light in the back seat of the car proceeded to explain how she prepared for each shoot.

Once they'd arrived at the location where Mariah was shooting, the model proceeded to charm the security into letting them pass because they wanted to do a report on how she did her work. "She goes by Mako Arai when she is working in the Japanese fashion industry," Mia had informed her.

Kyoko's eyes widened, she had heard that name before. Silently she watched the hair and make-up artist bundle up Mariah's frizzy blond hair into a wig cap and put on a black wig and make-up that suddenly emphasized the Asian heritage that Kyoko hadn't really seen initially then she watched breathlessly as the bubbly, vivacious woman whom she'd eaten dinner with melted away. When Mariah stepped in front of the camera she was an austere elegant woman promoting a high-end perfume with a model that Kyoko thought had a long way to go before he could match Tsuruga-san in gentlemanly appeal.

"Mogami-san?"

Kyoko jumped as Mia's voice penetrated her consciousness and glanced up sharply as the door opened. Mia laughed softly, "We're here."

"Here? Where…" Kyoko trailed off as her eyes went to the large feudal mansion that rose up in front of her. "Here?"

She couldn't help the squeak in her voice as she got out of the car. "We're filming here?" she repeated looking over at Mia for confirmation.

"Yes," Mia smiled. "For part of the year this place serves as a historic museum and film set, but it's the off season right now. Follow me."

Kyoko went to heft her suitcase and the brunette who served as Mia's brother's personal assistant beat her to picking it up.

"It's amazing isn't it?" Syo Finnegan asked casually.

"Y-yes…Akizaki-san is already here?" she asked.

Syo looked confused for a moment and then chuckled. "Yes, Alex is already here. He's making some last minute arrangements to get the film crew up here," he said. "His brother's being a little difficult."

"His brother?" Kyoko asked.

"Ryuen doesn't like people being on his personal property that much during the off season," Mia informed her and sighed. "Apparently Alex neglected to inform big brother he planned to shoot a chunk of the video here."

"I don't understand…" Kyoko mumbled.

"Don't worry about it Mogami-san," Mia said. "Big brother will pretty much give Alex anything he wants if he asks and is convincing enough in his arguments."

They proceeded up to the house and the door burst open expelling two children who immediately attached themselves to Mia's legs. "Mia-neechan!"

Mia knelt down and hugged the two children and they watched her expectantly as she reached into the oversized bag that she carried and produced two wrapped gifts. The kids cheered and pulled away tearing into the gifts, squealing in delight as the small toys emerged.

"Kazuki and Sorae Akizaki," Syo murmured to Kyoko. "They're Alex and Mia's niece and nephew. Come with me, I'll show you your room. Mia will be up to explain everything once the twins let her go, they only get to see her a few times a year."

Kyoko numbly followed the tall man up the stairs still trying to figure everything out. They reached a door a short time later and Syo opened it and gestured for her to proceed in. "If you need anything, Mogami-san, please feel free to let me know."

Kyoko was left in the midst of what could only be called a fairy tale bedroom straight out of some of her favorite books. She ignored her bag for the time being and began to explore the room trying to take everything in at once. She'd just settled on the bed when her phone rang and she pulled it out.

"Tsuruga-san this house is amazing!" Kyoko burst out after the initial greetings.

"House?" the actor repeated thrown off by the sudden change of subject.

Kyoko went into rapturous explanations of everything she'd seen so far and she heard him chuckle quietly. "It reminds me a little bit of Karuizawa, but quieter and no tourists…" Kyoko said. "I'm sure I'll find lots of fairies out there!"

"Even a new fairy prince since the one you found turned out to be a mere human?" Ren asked.

Kyoko froze at his words and then shook her head furiously. "I don't need another fairy prince," she said fiercely.

There was a long silence on the other end of the line and Kyoko wondered if she'd said the wrong thing, but then Ren's voice rumbled through the receiver. "I'm glad."

On the other end of the line, Ren kicked himself mentally for letting that particular thought slip out. He admitted to himself he was more uneasy than he should be about Kyoko being on a shoot out of his current sphere of influence. She was an actress and he had his own jobs to take care of, he couldn't protect her from everything no matter how much he wanted to. His hand clenched around his phone for a moment as his eyes went to the window of his apartment that rose over Tokyo.

He wondered how she would react if he told her how lonely his apartment was without her in it, but the words never escaped as his conversation with Kyoko's manager played through his mind again. Kyoko may also take it as a violation of his promise to give her as much time as she needed. He smiled wryly and slipped through the sliding glass door to the balcony and leaned on the railing. "So what's your schedule today looking like?" he asked her, distracting himself with talk of her work.

Kyoko smiled in relief as the subject shifted to something she was far more comfortable talking about. "I'm not sure. Mia said something about her brother neglecting to inform their older brother he would be filming here," Kyoko said. "So it seems things may be a little up in the air on how everything is going to go."

"Why would he have to inform his older brother about filming there?" Ren asked. "Shouldn't someone have already made all the arrangements?"

"From the way it sounds it's complicated," Kyoko said. "Apparently, Akizaki-san thought he'd talked to his older brother about everything, but actually hadn't. From some of the conversation I've heard, it's not completely unusual that something like that would slip his mind."

Their conversation wandered from there until there was a knock on her door and she called for the person to enter. "I'll talk to you when you return to Tokyo," Ren said in closing. "Good luck with your shoot."

"Thank you," Kyoko said. "I'll talk to you later."

She put her phone up as Mia entered the room and the look on her manager's face said that things were settled. "The film crew will be here in about twenty more minutes, let's get you downstairs. Ryuen ordered the kitchen to put out a light lunch spread for everyone."

"And cut! That's a wrap for this section of the video."

The director's voice broke through the slight daze that Kyoko found herself in and she turned her attention to Kaho Mashiro. "I…I did all right?" she asked hesitantly, these last scenes had started out with a half-dozen NGs.

"You did fine, I take it you haven't done many scenes where you kiss your costar?" Kaho inquired.

Kyoko's cheeks flamed and her eyes dropped to the ground. "No," she mumbled. "Just one commercial…"

And the commercial was a completely different thing. She'd been kissing Tsuruga-san which while awkward she at least knew him, but she'd only had the briefest acquaintance with Alex. "It's okay, Kyoko-san," Alex said pulling off the black wig and shaking out his blond hair now that they were done for the day. "Don't worry about it."

"But I took so much time and…" Kyoko began.

"If you continue to dwell on it, you'll freeze every time you have to do a kissing scene," Mia said, appearing at Kyoko's side and handing over a water bottle to her client and her brother.

Kyoko jumped and glanced at her manager.

Mia smiled encouragingly. "You'll get better at it every time," she said. "It may not get easier, but you'll get better at handling it."

"Do you think so?" Kyoko asked uncertainly.

"It's what most actors I've spoken with say," Mia said.

"I hope so," Kyoko mumbled.

"We're done for the day and there's some daylight left, would you like a tour of the property?" Alex asked after taking a long swig of the water.

"Are we allowed to?" the actress questioned. "I thought that…"

"The film crew and other actors are going to be staying in a hotel near tomorrow's film site, but you'll be staying here tonight as we previously discussed," Mia said and gave her brother a mischievous smile. " _I_ asked for permission."

Alex choked on his water and Syo came up behind him and pounded on his back. Alex gave Mia a reproving look. "Mi'…"

"You should be careful how you drink 'Lex, you wouldn't want to mess up your vocal chords," Mia answered.


	13. Sunsets and Realizations

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** I at least managed to finish it before I completely blew by my update date *laughs*...I wasn't entirely sure I'd make it ^^; The holiday season proved to be a lot more hectic than I thought it would be and I'm not nearly where I wanted to be by the time this update rolled around. However, I have finally figured out how many chapters this fiction will be and I'm hoping that I'll get on a good roll and be able to put it up in a timely manner.

That being said, this chapter turned out to be a bit longer and to cover more ground than I initially intended. It's also a little rougher than what I usually like to put up, I am probably going to find about fifty mistakes that I'll have to correct when I go through it thoroughly, but I think it's at least readable ^_^

Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to read (and review if you get a chance) my story.

I'm looking at returning to the bi-weekly update again, which means the next chapter should drop around 01/20/16.

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen: Sunsets and Realizations**

"Ready to go?"

Kyoko jumped and turned to face Alex who emerged from the door way wearing pair of faded jeans and a red Tokyo University t-shirt. A feathering of blond hair screened one of his gray-green eyes from her and he smiled. "Where is Mia?" Kyoko asked.

"She's discussing business with big brother," Alex said. "It'll just be me showing you around…if that's all right? If you'd prefer I can ask Syo or one of the others to come as well?"

Kyoko hesitated for a moment, inexplicably nervous about spending time with just Alex though he'd been nothing but a gentleman. Alex chuckled, pulling out his red cell phone and sending out a message. Syo appeared moments later having also changed out of his slacks and button-down into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt depicting a stylized version of the World Tree. Kyoko felt herself relax minutely with the appearance of the other man and Alex opened the door for her. "Shall we?"

Kyoko nodded and exited the house with the two men following her. Syo's longer strides took him a few steps ahead of her and Alex, but knowing he was there made her feel better. "How long have you lived here, Akizaki-san?" she asked.

"The house has been in my family for generations," Alex said. "My father was a diplomat in the US where he met my mother and married her. His parents weren't entirely thrilled with it, but they eventually relented. I actually only lived here during the summers when I was in elementary school and junior high. We moved permanently to Japan in the autumn after I turned fifteen. Have you always lived in Tokyo?"

Kyoko shook her head. "I spent most of my life in Kyoto working at a _ryokan."_

She nearly kicked herself at that admission that was not something she wanted to talk about here.

"Oh, which one?" Syo asked curiously.

"Ah…nothing you would probably know," she hedged.

"Try me?" the brunette chuckled.

She shook her head fiercely and both men looked at her in surprise. "My concern is only with the future. I don't talk about the past," she stated flatly.

Startlement passed over their features, but they acquiesced to her refusal and the topic shifted to historical stories that Alex had heard based around the area. "Where will we be filming tomorrow?" Kyoko asked. "The script gives a location, but not any details about it."

"Oh, there's a period drama being filmed near here and they have a recreation of a feudal Japanese village for their set. They're not using it for the next couple weeks and decided to rent it out to interested parties so that it's not just racking up maintenance fees," Alex replied. "We had to move quickly to get a slot when the announcement hit."

"Does your brother own that too?" Kyoko asked, it seemed like the elder Akizaki had his fingers in everything and it wouldn't surprise her if the answer was yes.

Alex giggled, Kyoko could think of no other word for it other than that, before responding, "Oh, gods, no. They did initially try and convince Ryuen to let them build it on our property, but he turned them down flat. It's situated just on the outer edge of our land, which makes it convenient for our shoot tomorrow. Let's go this way, you've got to see the view from up there, it's amazing!"

Alex lightly grasped her forearm and tugged her in the direction of what looked like a narrow line of dirt that vanished into the trees. Kyoko followed, listening to Alex talk about how he and his sister used to sneak into the woods to avoid chores and roused the wrath of their elder brother.

"Mia-san did that?" Kyoko gasped.

Alex grinned. "Even Mi' had a rebellious stage, although honestly I think she went along more to make sure I stayed out of trouble than to avoid the chores," he said.

There was the sound of rocks tumbling down and Kyoko's eyes shot ahead to see Syo scrambling up the path ahead. The assistant had only added in an occasional comment here and there during the course of the trip seeming content to let Alex, and sometimes Kyoko, do all the talking. "It gets a little steep here," Alex said. "You go up first. Syo will help you and I'll spot you from down here so you don't get hurt. I don't want to face the wrath of Takarada-san or Tsuruga-san if anything happened to you."

"You know Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko gaped.

Alex chuckled and shook his head. "By reputation only," he said, "but I did get a very terse message from him via Mi's phone just before the shoot."

"Why would he…" Kyoko trailed off.

"You're his _kouhai_ or at least that's what Mia explained after I got the message," Alex said.

Kyoko nodded slowly and began to scramble up the cliff and caught Syo's proffered hand and the dark-haired man hauled her up the last bit. As soon as her feet landed on solid earth, her eyes went to the ocean spread out beyond the edge of the cliff they'd just found and she watched as the sun began to set. Her mouth rounded in an 'O' of awe and she turned to exclaim about it to her companions and saw the taller man place a light kiss in the middle of Alex's palm with an infinitely gentle smile and her cheeks burned and she whirled away quickly, nearly tripping in her haste.

She was saved from tumbling headfirst down the cliff by Alex's quick reflexes and he steadied her. "Are you all right, Kyoko-san?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kyoko said firmly.

"Sometimes things need to be kept secret and, in our business, that's okay," Alex said musingly and then turned to meet Kyoko's eyes. "As long as those close to you know what's important. Isn't the sunset spectacular from here?"

"Yes, it is," Kyoko agreed and pulled out her cell phone and snapped a picture then sent it to Tsuruga-san as she settled on the ground next to Alex and his PA to watch the sun vanish into its watery bed.

The following morning, Kyoko went downstairs to join Mia for breakfast and found herself directed into the kitchen where she saw an unfamiliar blond man standing at the stove. The twins Kyoko had seen briefly the day before were already ensconced at the table with a pancake topped with something that looked like cinnamon apples. "Do you mind pancakes, Mogami-san?" the man at the stove inquired.

Kyoko looked startled. "No, I don't, but I can…"

The man at the stove turned to look at her and smiled, the edges of his brown eyes crinkling with humor. "Guests do not cook in my home, Mogami-san," he said firmly.

"Oooh…Ryuen's cooking breakfast this morning!"

Kyoko turned and saw Alex tumble into the kitchen with Syo not too far behind him and heard the man at the stove chuckle. "I've already got the cherry topping for your pancakes made, I wasn't sure when you'd make it down," he said. "Mogami-san, do you prefer apples or cherries?"

"Apples…" Kyoko said slowly.

"Perfect, I'll have your plate up in a moment," Ryuen Akizaki said and turned his attention back to the stove.

A glass of orange juice was set down in front of Kyoko and she turned to see Mia in a frilly white apron that seemed at odds with the professionalism Kyoko thought of when it came to her manager. "Big brother always cooks breakfast when he's home," Mia explained. "I learned how to make pancakes from him and right now you're in the middle of Akizaki Family Time—things are a bit more relaxed then."

"Can I help ye with anything, Ryuen?"

Syo's spoke in English, his accent heavier than when Kyoko first heard him speak.

"I've got it Sioghnal, just make sure Alex gets the dogs fed before you head out to the site," Ryuen said.

"Aye, will do," Syo responded.

Kyoko had a hard time wrapping her mind around the bustling family kitchen and wistfully wondered if this was something people who had a more normal background than she did experienced every day. She brought herself to argue a little with Ryuen and at least secure the ability to help with the breakfast dishes before she, Alex, Mia, and Syo piled into a car driven by a man that Alex said worked with the Akizakis for over twenty-five years.

They reached the site and got out of the car and were met by Kaho Mashiro. "We have a problem, Alex," she said gravely.

Alex cocked his head. "What's going on?"

"Apparently the site manager double-booked today and there's a production crew from Queen Records here. They're arguing that they had the reservation first and that we should find somewhere else to go, but we had our site fee paid first," Kaho answered.

Alex darted a glance at Mia who changed into one of her normal business suits before they headed out and the blond manager nodded. "I'll go talk to them and see if we can reach a compromise. Kyoko-san only has today to film because we're due at the Windows set tomorrow at nine sharp and the release date for this video was set in stone weeks ago and the publicity blitz kicked off yesterday."

"Queen Records?" Kyoko repeated faintly.

"Yeah, someone named Sho is filming a PV here too…"

"Shotarou…" the words escaped in a low snarl before Kyoko could stop them. "Does he have to ruin _everything_ I do?"

She slapped her hand on her shoulder to quiet the grudge that popped out and took a deep breath. "Elegant. Calm. Serene. Graceful."

She repeated the four words like a mantra trying to assemble the public face that she had worked with Sachiko to put together. She couldn't let Shotarou ruin this for her and she would show the arrogant rock star just how far she'd come from that PV set over a year ago.

When she glanced up she turned bright red as she realized that she'd spoken aloud and that everyone around her heard her words. "I, uh, it's…" she stumbled.

"You're looking for the future not locked in the past, right?" Alex said with a smile.

Kyoko's eyes widened as a variation of her own words the night before were given back to her. She nodded. "Yes," she said.

Mia returned several minutes later with a satisfied look in her eyes. "I reached a compromise with the other crew. The village is big enough we each only need about half of it and we can work around each other. Though they apparently want to meet with all of us to make sure we're all on the same page."

"Do I have to?" Kyoko asked and then shook her head and squared her shoulders. "Of course I have to. I'm an actress, a professional. Meeting up from time to time can't be helped."

Mia nodded approvingly. "Yes, you are," she stated.

Alex glanced in question at his sister, but Mia shook her head.

Kyoko relaxed when she realized that Mia wasn't going to tell her brother about the deeper problems with this.

The group made their way to the central square of the village where the other group was arrayed and to Kyoko it almost felt like two hostile armies meeting under a flag of truce. Belatedly she realized that Queen Records was probably a rival to whatever label that Alex was on and it really could be two rival organizations meeting.

At the front of the group was a tall figure she knew all-too-well and it took all her willpower to keep the grudges down. "So this is the guy that thinks he can take our spot?" Sho Fuwa asked and swaggered across the square to meet with Alex.

Kyoko watched in shock as Sho's expression crumbled from arrogance into shock as the other musician met him. "No way…" Sho said.

He seemed to momentarily forget himself and for a second Kyoko was sure she saw wide-eyed admiration on her childhood friend's face before he controlled it. Alex, however, simply offered a hand. "Good morning, Fuwa-san," he said courteously. "It seems that things just got complicated. I'm grateful that you and your people are willing to work with us on this; we're all on a tight schedule. Shall we get this worked out so we don't have too long of a production delay?"

Mia and Kaho moved to stand next to Alex as Sho's manager and the person who was presumably directing the video on Sho's side also joined them. The discussion seemed to last for hours though it was only minutes and while Kyoko focused on a quiet conversation with Syo and a few others in the group, she could almost feel a pair of blue eyes burning into her. Finally hands were shaken and the three returned to the group. "We'll have to try and get this all done by sunset. The director for Fuwa-san's video needs the west side of the village for the final pieces of the video," Kaho said and glanced at the crew. "Do we have this?"

"Yes," the crew chorused.

Kaho smiled. "Excellent. Alex, Kyoko-san please head off to the trailer for wardrobe and make-up while we get everything set up."

* * *

"I see that they finally found the perfect role for a plain girl like you."

The words were sneered from behind Kyoko about mid-way through the filming and she stiffened, taking a deep breath to infuse herself with calm instead of whirling on the arrogant boy behind her and letting him have the full brunt of her temper. The grudges whispered in her ears tempting her to just lash out as she always did, but Kyoko needed to maintain her public persona even with this person.

Kyoko smoothed the worn kimono that was her costume for this shoot and shoved the long lengths of black hair back behind her shoulders before turning to face him. "Isn't it though?" she asked, a smile curving her lips. "I'm a princess of noble lineage whose beloved family was slaughtered during an uprising and forced to make my way in a village far from home on my own."

Kyoko cocked her head just a bit. "Sounds kind of familiar doesn't it? Sort of anyway…" she said.

"How the hell did you wind up in one of _his_ videos?" Sho demanded, his eyes going to where Alex was working through one of his solo scenes.

"Akizaki-san saw some previous work of mine and thought I'd be suitable for this video," Kyoko said, she was surprised at the steady calmness of her own voice.

"Do you even know who he is?" Sho asked looking at her as if she'd grown two heads.

"He's a musician?" Kyoko suggested.

Sho glared at her. "No kidding," he snorted and shook himself. "Of course you wouldn't know who he is, but no matter what he won't take my place on the Oricon charts."

"Kyoko-san, are you all right?"

Alex's voice and Kyoko turned to see the other musician approaching them. For his role in the video Alex wore a long black wig and a kimono that suited a person of high standing in the time they were portraying. "I'm fine, this guy here decided to come over and watch," Kyoko said.

"Do you like the costuming?" Alex inquired.

Sho glared at Alex for a moment and turned his back to the two so Kyoko couldn't read his face. "Even if you picked her up from one of my videos, you're not going to take my spot on the Oricon chart," he declared.

"One of your videos?" Alex repeated the words slowly. "You had something to do with _Ring Doh_?"

"What the hell is that?" Sho asked, turning to look at them. "You picked her out of my _Prisoner_ PV."

Alex looked confused. "Which video was that?"

"The one with the angels and the demons…" Sho sputtered.

Alex blinked. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one. I'll have to look it up when I get home. Kyoko-san, we're ready for you on set, shall we?"

Alex offered a hand and Kyoko took it and then let it go as they made their way to the set they were needed on. Kyoko could almost feel Sho's fuming, but didn't look back.

The rest of the video went off without a hitch, even the last scene where Kyoko was required to have a long kiss with Alex and when the clapperboard fell they parted. Alex smiled at her. "Thank you very much for obliging me in this," he said.

At some point during the filming Sho had been pulled back to his own work and by the time the crew for Sho's video came to claim the area, most of their stuff was packed up and Kyoko was back in her regular clothing and chatting with Syo, Alex, and Mia while the crew got the last bits together.

"After the final cut is finished, I'll let you know, maybe we can watch it all the way through for the first time together," Alex suggested. "I had a lot of fun doing this."

"I did too," Kyoko smiled. "I think it'd be fun to see."

Alex glanced at Syo and the PA extracted a card from the case in his pocket and handed it to Kyoko. "It's my number and e-mail in case you need to get a hold of me," Alex said.

Just as Sho arrived on the set Kyoko finished her good-byes to the cast and crew and slid into the back seat of the car Mia had gone back to get when they broke for lunch. They pulled away from the set and Kyoko pulled out the script for the first part of the filming tomorrow. "What do you feel like eating tonight?" Mia inquired.

"Would it be terrible if I said I'd rather be home and fix myself something tonight?" Kyoko inquired.

She saw Mia's blond head shake. "No, not at all. You will be eating though right?"

"I have some groceries that I got just before we left that probably need to be used up," Kyoko replied.

"All right."

Mia dropped her off at her building and got out of the car as Kyoko grabbed her bags. "I'll get these up on my own," Kyoko assured her manager.

"Get to bed at a decent time tonight, Mogami-san," Mia ordered her. "I'll be here to pick you up at 7 AM to make sure we get to the set on time."

"I will," Kyoko smiled. "Thank you."

The two parted and Kyoko headed inside only to draw up short at the sight of a blond form standing in front of the elevator that led up to her apartment. "Tsu…Hizuri-san," she stumbled over the address.

"Kuon," Ren Tsuruga reminded her with a soft smile. "Welcome home, Kyoko."

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Akizaki-san said to expect you home around this time," he said. "I was just going to call you to see how things went with the filming, but decided I'd rather see you instead. You don't mind?"

Kyoko shook her head slowly. "No, I don't mind," she said. "Have you eaten yet?"

"I had a rice ball from the convenience store earlier," he said, hitting the button that would bring the elevator to them.

"Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko exclaimed and then clapped her hands over her mouth and looked frantically around.

Ren picked up her luggage and guided Kyoko firmly into the elevator when it arrived and shut the door. "I don't think there was anyone around to hear that," he said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" Kyoko began.

Ren placed a long finger on her lips and shook his head. "No apologies, Kyoko," he said. "Just try and be more careful."

She nodded and they exited the elevator and went to her small apartment.

Kyoko opened the door and Ren preceded her in, putting her luggage down and looking around as if expecting trouble, but finding none. Kyoko flipped on the lights and headed for the kitchen to pull out the ingredients for dinner.

Ren followed Kyoko into the kitchen and started up a conversation about how things with the video went and was surprised by Kyoko's almost exuberant response. They chatted back and forth for a while and he set the table for them while Kyoko served the food. Finally they sat down at the table and Kyoko looked at Ren from across the table.

"Did you really just come to see me?" Kyoko asked him.

Ren started to nod but then reached inside his pocket. "That was most of the reason, but also…"

He trailed off and his hand emerged and a gold chain tumbled from his hand with a familiar pendant at the end.

"Princess Rosa?" Kyoko gasped. "How…"

"It finally turned up in one of the pawn shops that Akizaki-san distributed the pictures to," Ren replied.

"Then did they…"

"No," Ren said. "The necklace was sold to the pawnshop through someone that wasn't related to the crime, they have a solid alibi for that night and insist that they found the necklace. The person that wrecked your room is still at large, but they figured they had enough pictures and evidence to return it to you. The PI said that he'll continue to try and find out who was behind it."

He rose from the table and moved around and slipped the necklace back into its proper place around her neck and pressed a light kiss to the top of her head. "We'll have to get a proper setting for it someday."

Kyoko's hand wrapped around the jewel and she shook her head. "I like it just the way it is."

* * *

 **End Notes for this Chapter** : I don't usually do end notes, but I want to explain something really quickly. While Kyoko knows Ren is Kuon Hizuri, she still thinks of him as Ren Tsuruga (and he's more Ren than Kuon to me as well *laughs*) because honestly people tend to default to the names they're first introduced to people by—I have many friends that I don't even realize who people are talking about when they reference them by their real name not the nicknames I know them best by.


	14. Meet the Cast and Crew

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** First of all, I apologize for being late with this chapter and I am currently taking steps to make sure that it doesn't happen again. I'm proud of the fact that I usually get my stories up within 24 to 48 hours of when I promise them, but life suddenly got busy. By the end of this week, I intend to be back on track where my personal schedule wanted me to be.

Second, throwing a lot of names at you in this chapter, they're important, but there won't be pop quizzes next chapter on the newcomers *laughs*

Thirdly, I'm not going to write out all of _Windows_ , but I'm hoping to give enough information through their actions on set and glimpses of the scenes they're working on to give you guys a good idea of what it's about (kind of like that did with Dark Moon in the original Skip Beat! Manga...we never know the entirety of the story, but we know enough to kinda get where they went with it).

Thirdly, the next chapter is still going to drop on February 3rd as if I put this chapter up on the day it was scheduled to be up.

Thanks for your patience with me and taking time to read my story (and review if you get a chance).

As always, Skip Beat! doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura-the original characters, storylines, etc. are mine ^_^

See you next week!

~ Yuki

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen: Meet the Cast and Crew**

There was a second person in the car when Kyoko went down to meet Mia in the morning. The actress frowned as a tall form unfolded from the car and immediately reached for her bag. Kyoko clasped her bag with two hands and kept it neatly away from the stranger. "Who are you?"

"Akizaki-san…" the man's voice was deep and resonant.

With a start, Kyoko realized the man was wearing a familiar eye-gougingly pink coverall.

Mia came around the car. "You should have waited until I properly introduced you."

"It's Love Me pink!" Kyoko half-choked.

Dark blue eyes glared at her murderously over a pair of neat black frames until the man pushed the glasses into place and composed himself.

"Takarada-taichou apparently added him to the ranks of the Love Me department while we were away at the shoot," Mia said. "He is to serve as your PA for his first task. His name is Daisuke Miwa."

"Please treat me kindly, Miwa-san," Kyoko said with a bow though she kept her bag out of his reach.

"It's part of my job, Kyoko-san, to carry your bags," Daisuke gritted out. "So let me."

Mia sighed. "Your book," she said casually.

Daisuke looked at her in surprise and grudgingly drew out a familiar book that Kyoko knew all too well.

"Minus ten points for acting discourteously," Mia said and made the appropriate stamp. "Kyoko-san, please get into the car. We don't want to be late for the first day of filming."

She looked at Daisuke who moved belatedly to open the back door for Kyoko to slide in.

Kyoko wasn't sure that she liked the atmosphere around the new guy and the silence in the car was strained on the way to the studio where they'd be doing the script-reading and finalizing details on the costuming for the drama. Kyoko's stomach twisted when they pulled up to the studio and she realized she was going to be dealing with Ren Tsuruga on a professional front. She took a deep breath to calm herself, she needed to be careful of what she said and did so as not to betray anything other than the kouhai-senpai relationship with the other actor.

"Why are you here and why are you wearing that godawful pink uniform!"

The exclamation exploded from Miyako Miwa as soon as they passed through the doors and Kyoko blinked and glanced over at Ren who shrugged elegantly.

"Shut up, Miyako, or I'll make sure you don't have your favorite shampoo tomorrow morning," Daisuke growled.

"The book, Miwa-san," Mia said.

The book made another appearance and Mia stamped something else in it. "Minus one hundred points for taunting your sister without due cause," she murmured.

"What?" Daisuke exclaimed. "She's my sister…it's _normal_ for siblings to do that. Don't you have any brothers?"

Kyoko moved away from the person who was supposed to be her PA and her manager. First she greeted Ren as he was her senpai. "Good morning, Mogami-san, I trust you slept well last night?" he asked.

Kyoko floundered a moment for a response…Ren had slept on her couch until sometime after 4 AM when he'd left to 'keep up appearances'. "Yes, I did, and you?" she asked.

"Very well," Ren rumbled, a smile curving his lips that immediately brought color to Kyoko's cheeks even though it wasn't much different from his usual gentlemanly smile.

Kyoko managed to mumble a few more niceties and then turned and smiled at Miyako. "Good morning, Miwa-san, are you ready for today?" she asked, ignoring the continuing back and forth behind her.

"Y-yes," Miyako said, tearing her eyes away from her brother. "I'm looking forward to working with you and Tsuruga-sama. I have a feeling I'm going to be learning a lot."

"We will do our best to guide you," Ren assured her gravely. "May I escort you two to the set? Miyano-san wanted the main characters to meet her there as soon as we were all assembled."

"Okay," Miyako beamed up at him and Kyoko felt a little niggle of jealousy.

Ren looked at her over Miyako's head and just shook his head, a teasing half-smile appearing on his face as he expertly guided both girls towards where the director was waiting.

They entered the room and Makoto Miyano beamed at them. "I'm so glad you all made it today," she said.

The director was practically bouncing like a child anticipating a trip to the amusement park. She gestured at the seats in front of her and waited until the actors settled into place. "Wardrobe is finishing the last of the preliminary costuming now and should be asking for each of you separately for the final fitting in a bit. I know that Clara and Reiji don't have a lot of different costumes so I want to make sure the ones you have are as comfortable as possible."

"Thank you for your kindness," Ren said. "The schedule says we will begin shooting after lunch?"

Makoto nodded. "The rest of the cast will be here then. I requested you all early to work a few things out. I'd like you three to get into character and start interacting a bit so I can get an idea of how I want to film the opening scenes. In this case, we're going to concentrate roughly around the period of the first meeting between Clara, Reiji, and Sakura at the park. Not quite the moment when Clara decides that Sakura will be her next target…"

Kyoko marshalled her thoughts and pulled the wheelchair bound girl out of her store of characters and settled into one of the cushioned chairs. "Reiji, it's too cold out here today," she announced.

Ren tugged off his suit jacket immediately and moved to settled it around Kyoko's shoulders. "The doctor says getting out and walking in the park is good for you. They think the fresh air will help clear your lungs," he said.

Kyoko/Clara Kinoshita sniffed. "It will give me pneumonia more likely, the doctor would just like to see me die already," she said.

"The doctor is your uncle, of course he doesn't feel that way," Ren/Reiji Kinoshita stated. "He's been doing his best to find every possible treatment even so far as suggesting that we summon one of the doctors from Germany that specializes in neurological disorders."

"He's just taking the steps that would be expected of him…"

Their eyes turned to Miyako who was watching them with something akin to awe and she shook herself and bounced to her feet. She rushed over in their direction and tripped and Ren offered her a hand up. Miyako accepted the hand and then turned her attention to Kyoko. "O~oh you have such beautiful hair!" she breathed, her eyes seeming to take on a sparkle.

With some surprise Kyoko realized that Miyako was already working on being in character for Sakura Yamaguchi, the first-year high school student that would have the misfortune to cross paths with Kyoko's Clara.

Kyoko reached up and touched her hair slowly—in the actual drama, she'd be wearing a long, beautifully curled black wig that flowed around her and dark blue contacts. "Thank you," she said with cool courtesy.

"I'm Sakura Yamaguchi," Miyako/Sakura introduced herself cheerfully. "May I ask your name?"

Kyoko looked at Miyako for a long moment and lifted her chin up just a bit to appear to look down her nose at her. "Reiji…" she said shortly.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Yamaguchi-san," Ren said stepping forward smoothly. "I'm Kinoshita Reiji and this is my stepsister, Kinoshita Clara."

"O~oh, I thought you were her butler!" Sakura exclaimed.

A half-smile that didn't quite reach Reiji's eyes flashed across his face. "Ah, no, but I do have the honor of watching after Lady Clara to ensure she is safe."

#

The scene continued for a few minutes longer before there was a knock on the door and Makoto quietly said 'Cut' before acknowledging the knock. "Enter," she called.

A woman with gray-streaked dark hair entered and bowed. "We're ready for Kyoko-sama now," she said.

Kyoko rose from her chair and swept out of the room like the elegant lady Clara would be if she wasn't wheelchair bound and followed the wardrobe supervisor.

Inside the dressing rooms, Kyoko was fitted for three or so dresses in soft, silky materials that ranged from dark blue to black with delicate lace touches here and there. While adjustments were being made to the dresses, one of the assistants entered with the wheelchair that Kyoko would spend most of her time on set in. She settled in the seat while the assistant took measurements and adjusted things just as it would be done for a person who was really confined to a wheelchair.

The make-up artist entered after the assistant left with the wheelchair as Kyoko was buttoned into the first dress she would be wearing when filming started. She sat in the chair patiently as the long, black wig was settled on her head and the HMUA fussed to make sure the curls were falling just right.

"Have you ever worn contacts before, Kyoko-sama?" the HMUA asked.

"Yes," Kyoko answered, she'd worn them on several occasions now.

The HMUA handed Kyoko the case with the contacts in it and Kyoko turned to the mirror in the dressing room and carefully put the contacts in. After her contacts were in the HMUA set her back down and began to transform the cute, healthy Kyoko Mogami into the frail, sickly Clara Kinoshita who's only purpose in life was to make people as miserable as she was.

Kyoko didn't bother to keep track of time as they went through the process of getting her ready for her first scene of the drama and exited the room to find Mia waiting and the blond woman handed her a bottle of water with a straw. "Where is Miwa-san?" Kyoko asked curiously. "Did he give up already?"

Mia chuckled and shook her head. "No, I sent him out to make sure that the ones who are catering the set today have food that fits into the diet that you were instructed to follow for the time being."

Kyoko nodded, unable to resist making a slight face at the idea. Make-up could only go so far as to make Clara's illness seem real so Kyoko and Mia had met with a nutritionist that helped them come up with an exercise and meal plan that would make Kyoko appear suitably pale and drawn for Clara's later scenes without actually adversely affecting her health and they'd made an agreement for one 'cheat' day a week so that Kyoko wouldn't have to go without some of her favorite things for the duration of the drama filming. Kyoko was willing to be 'professional' about it and go without, but Mia successfully won the argument pointing out that a little bit in moderation didn't hurt anyone and would cut down on the chances Kyoko might grow to resent it.

They stopped for lunch in one of the green rooms so that once everyone was assembled on set they could get started.

A little over thirty minutes later, they reached the set and Kyoko headed for Clara's wheelchair. The assistant told her the one that would probably fit her would be on the set in a little over a week and asked that she bear with this one for the time being. Kyoko smiled and assured him that she'd be fine.

Other actors and a few more staff had shown up while Kyoko was in make-up. She was introduced to Naoki Akiyama, the actor who would be playing Sakura's boyfriend who would only appear in a few episodes, and Yuuko Fukui, an actress playing Sakura's best friend who would be in more of them, especially towards the end. Other names blurred together for Kyoko, but she knew she'd get them down once filming commenced.

Miyako was the next one to enter, she was using her real hair and eyes for her role as Sakura though her HMUA had done something to make it appear even more shiny and flowy than it was previous and the make-up brightened her face and subtracted a couple years from her appearance making her look very much like the student Sakura was supposed to be. She greeted the newcomers with a bright smile, but seemed to draw back a little bit towards her manager Rei as she was introduced. With a start, Kyoko realized that Miyako wasn't entirely comfortable in the role she was in much like Kyoko had been before she fully figured out Natsu for 'Box R'. Miyako eventually wound her way towards Kyoko and made appropriately excited comments about her transformation.

For a moment, Kyoko broke character and reached out and touched Miyako's hand. "It's going to be all right," she assured her. "I'll help you as much as I can!"

"Thank you, Kyoko-san," Miyako smiled, for real this time.

Sudden silence fell over the set and Kyoko's head snapped towards the door that just opened and her jaw nearly fell in her lap. While Ren looked good in just about anything, something about the neatly pressed black suit and the carefully arranged style of his dark hair for Reiji Kinoshita stole her breath for just an instant. Miyako's exclamation of admiration wasn't silenced and Kyoko glanced over at the girl and couldn't help but laugh silently for just a moment, she'd seen many actresses over the course of her time in show business so far react similarly.

"All right, we're all here," Makoto said. "Let's get started. Reiji and Clara are on Stage one in the sitting room set for the Kinoshita mansion. Sakura, Kenji, and Reiko are to head over to the classroom set with the student extras. Let's get this show on the road!"

Filming went well and Makoto declared herself satisfied with both initial scenes and gave their managers instructions to the park where they would start filming the first meeting between the three main characters in the early afternoon.

Kyoko made a note of it even though she knew Mia would probably already have the information down in the schedule book and in Kyoko's phone for her. After saying her good-byes, Kyoko went back to the dressing room to have the make-up removed and to change into her regular clothing. When she came out from behind the screen the assistants put up for her to change behind there was a box on her dressing room table.

Frowning, Kyoko walked up to it and slowly lifted the lid. Her hand flew to her mouth as she stared at the damaged denim jacket contained therein. It had been one of the items that disappeared the night her room was savaged. Her hand clenched tightly and she caught a glimpse in the mirror of a pale reflection that had nothing to do with Clara.


	15. Complications on the Set

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** This chapter went a slightly different route than I initially envisioned, but I think it's going to work very nicely. Anyway, managed to get it up on time (I was worried...still dealing with getting things to calm back down in real life). I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

As always, Skip Beat! isn't mine, just the OCs and the storyline and various affiliations in it.

Thanks for taking time to read (and review if the chance presents itself) ^_^

Next chapter will be posted around February 17th.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen: Complications on the Set**

"Are you sure you're all right, Mogami-san?" Mia asked Kyoko as she pulled up next to her apartment building.

It took a full minute for it to dawn on Kyoko that her manager had spoken. She shook her head and dredged up a brilliant smile. "I'm fine, Mia-san, it was just surprising is all," she said. "Maybe someone who knows me found it in another thrift shop and picked it up to give back to me."

"Without a name on the tag?" Daisuke frowned.

He'd only been informed of what he needed to know to understand why Kyoko was shaken. Ren had already been gone with Yashiro to an evening TV spot when Kyoko found the jacket in her dressing room.

Kyoko's hands clenched convulsively in the heavy denim piled in her lap. After looking it over, she'd determined that she could repair the damage to the jacket and turn the ink blotches on it into a decorative design of some form. Mia urged her to throw it away because of its reminders, but Kyoko had informed her she wanted to reclaim it as her own. Kyoko closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, Mia-san, really I am," she said. "You'll be here at seven tomorrow to pick me up for the Chameleon photo shoot?"

Mia nodded. "Probably closer to 6:30, traffic is getting pretty heavy right now and I want to make sure you're on time."

Kyoko nodded. "I'll be ready then."

Before either Daisuke or Mia could get out of the car to open the door for her, Kyoko was out of the car and waving at the two before hurrying through the muggy evening to the door of her building. It was getting towards the rainy season and she made a note to get an umbrella before it started—her old one had been another casualty.

She slipped through the doors into the building and summoned the elevator. She kept a pleasant expression on her face and chatted idly with the older woman who lived a couple floors below her until the lady's stop. No one else got into the elevator and Kyoko wrapped her arms tightly around herself and watched the number change as the elevator climbed to her level. She exited the elevator and headed towards her room, the key in her hand trembling as she went to put it in the door. She dropped it and swore, reaching down to grab it and forcing herself to steady.

Thrusting the key in the door, she cranked it in the appropriate direction and flung the door open, golden brown eyes flickering over the interior. The lights she customarily left on were still on and there was nothing out of the ordinary. She laughed weakly at herself as she stepped in; reminding herself firmly that whomever had broken into her room all those weeks ago had absolutely no idea where she lived now. She tossed her things onto the couch and headed into the kitchen to pull out the salad fixings she'd prepared before leaving that morning.

Her cell phone lit up and Tsuruga-san's ring tone filled the apartment. Kyoko let it ring through to her voice mail while she concentrated on making the salad. She needed to be in control of herself before she talked to Ren or she was going to break down into tears on the phone and worry him unnecessarily.

###

"Kyoko, it's Kuon, are you all right?"

Ren hung up the phone after leaving the message and stared out the window for a long moment. Kyoko was fine when Mia dropped her off; the manager had verified that and the fact that she was seen entering her apartment by the building security before they'd left her. He wasn't sure what exactly happened before Kyoko left the studio, but she'd sounded oddly shaky in the message when she called to let him know she was heading home as she promised she would.

It was taking everything in his power not to snatch up his jacket and drive to Kyoko's apartment to check on her himself. He paced the floor in his living room for several minutes as he fought himself until his cell phone rang and he heard Kyoko's distinctive voice over the line.

"Sorry I didn't pick up in time," she said. "I was finishing getting dinner ready and my hands were dirty."

Ren relaxed a little bit as her cheerful voice washed over him, but he wasn't entirely convinced by her performance. "The meteorologist says it's supposed to rain tomorrow," Kyoko commented idly. "I wonder if they'll cancel the filming…"

"Probably not, the rain is supposed to let up before mid-morning," Ren said. "Do you have an umbrella already?"

"Not yet, but I'll pick one up tomorrow between the photoshoot and when _Windows_ starts filming," Kyoko said. "How about you, Tsuruga-san?"

"Kuon," he reminded her gently.

He heard her breath catch for a moment on the other end. "I'm sorry, it's going to take some getting used to referring to you by that name," Kyoko apologized.

"Then at least call me Ren, please Kyoko, I feel like you're putting a chasm between us when you use my last name like that," he said quietly.

Another silence fell. "But if I get too used to doing that, I might slip on set and it could start rumors…" she said.

"We've been working together for over a year and a half now, Kyoko," Ren pointed out. "It isn't unusual for business associates who work closely together to refer to each other by name."

"I'll try…Ren."

It wasn't the same as hearing her say his real name, but Ren determined he would take what victories he could. Quietly, he changed the subject. "Who is Miwa?" he asked. "And why was he wearing a Love Me coverall?"

"I'm not exactly sure on that one, apparently Takarada-san appointed him to the Love Me division while I was filming the video with Alex-san…" Kyoko said.

"Alex?" Ren frowned. "Did you get that close to him over those two days?"

"Are you jealous, Ren?" Kyoko asked, startlement touching her voice.

Ren's first instinct was to deny the possibility that such an emotion even existed in him, but he elected to go a different route. "You were just saying how you didn't feel comfortable calling me by my first name, but you're referring to him by his. How am I supposed to take it?"

"He's not my senpai," Kyoko said half-defensively. "He doesn't hold a position of seniority the way you do."

"Kyoko…" Ren's voice was gentle.

She sighed. "You're my only fairy prince, Tsuruga-san," she said softly. "You have nothing to worry about with Alex-san or anyone else."

Ren caught sight of the first drops of rain as they caught the streetlights below his apartment and traced one long finger over the glass surface of his window where the rain started splattering there as well. "What's your schedule like tomorrow, Kyoko?" he asked. "I know we have the _Windows_ filming and you mentioned a photoshoot?"

"Yeah, we're doing the autumn season shoot for Chameleon, the summer one will be out at the end of this week," Kyoko said.

"So soon?" Ren asked and made a note to have Yashiro pick up whatever magazine the photoshoot was going to be in since he may not be able to discretely pick it up on his own.

"Yes," Kyoko replied. "Takanori-san says he's glad we managed to get everything done so smoothly for this one though he warns me the next summer photo shoot will probably be in February."

Ren nodded. "Yeah, they put together the seasonal lines well in advance."

The conversation wandered deeper into the photoshoot and the fashion industry in general then a generic discussion of what they were going to be doing the next day on the Windows set before Kyoko reluctantly said that she had to go if she wanted to get a bath in and decent sleep for the next day.

Ren said his good-byes and stared at his phone for a long moment after the light on the face went out signifying end of the call. He clenched his hand around the phone and growled. If he had a chance, he would corner Kyoko and get answers out of her tomorrow. Even though most people would have thought she sounded normal, Ren had known her long enough and remembered the frightened voice on his voicemail when the Beagle had shown up and scared Kyoko half to death.

###

The next morning dawned and Kyoko found herself still staring blankly at the ceiling when her alarm went off. She may have fallen asleep at some point, but she wasn't sure if she actually had. The jacket was crumpled up in the corner of the room where Kyoko had thrown it before going in to take her bath. The HMUAs for the photoshoot and the drama may not be incredibly pleased with her appearance this morning; she could almost feel the dark circles under her eyes.

She rose from her bed and went into the bathroom to check things over before reaching for a beauty aid that promised to clear dark circles so she could appear her absolute best for the rest of the world. While the cream sank into her skin, Kyoko made her way to the kitchen to make the breakfast outlined by the nutritionist and settled down to it, determinedly shoving the events of the previous day into compartments in the back of her mind so she didn't mess up today. She would not let Tsuruga-san call her unprofessional for letting outside stuff affect her work and Kyoko was determined to put forth her best face for Miyako who may or may not look towards her as a role model. By the end of her breakfast and morning routine, Kyoko was able to bring forth a smile that would convince anyone she was fine and when Mia called to let her know they were there, Kyoko replied in her usual cheerful voice.

She made her way downstairs and chuckled as Mia met her in the lobby and presented her with an umbrella "Thank you, I was intending to ask if we could stop on the way to the Windows set for a new umbrella," Kyoko smiled.

"We should be able to as long as everything remains on schedule," Mia replied.

Kyoko shook her head. "No need, this one is fine," she said.

They reached the car and Kyoko realized that Daisuke Miwa was behind the steering wheel. Mia displayed a bandaged hand that Kyoko missed when they initially met and smiled wryly. "My shoe slipped in a puddle at the apartment and I fell, Alex forgot to dry off his umbrella before hanging it up," she said. "Alex tried to talk me out of working at all today, but relented when I told him I'd let Miwa-san drive instead of me."

"Are you okay?" Kyoko asked worriedly.

Mia nodded. "It's just a little bit of a twist, if it still hurts tonight after we drop you off, I'll stop by the clinic and have it looked at," she said.

"If you're sure," Kyoko said. "I could handle my—"

Mia shook her head hard. "Absolutely not," she stated, "especially in the current circumstances."

Kyoko sighed and nodded and slipped into the back seat. She only listened with half an ear as Mia ran down the schedule for today. Apparently, Makoto had sent an e-mail the night before saying they'd postponed the filming scheduled at the park to another day and they'd be convening at the studio to work on some of the other scenes at the sets inside instead.

They arrived on location for the Chameleon photoshoot and the staff was abuzz about a new model and Kyoko's eyes flew to Mia. Her manager was frowning a bit and requested that Daisuke stay near Kyoko while she figured out what was going on. "I thought you were the exclusive model for this," Daisuke observed.

Kyoko flinched remembering all too well the criticisms from some of her other shoots with the Takanori brothers. "I did too," she said quietly.

"Are they in violation of your contract?" Daisuke scowled. "I'll go…"

Kyoko reached out instinctively to catch his arm and drew his attention. "Bringing in a new model isn't a contract violation," Kyoko said. "The way Mia-san explained it is that there is a clause in there that gives them the option to bring another model in if I somehow don't meet the expectations laid out for me."

"They are actively disrespecting you, I'll beat…"

Kyoko saw the look in his eyes and quickly shook her head. "No, Miwa-san, it's all right really. They didn't call and tell me not to come today, so I don't think they've decided to fire me. Do you always react this violently?"

Daisuke started and Kyoko swore she saw his cheeks flare with color. "Kindness and love," he muttered.

"What?" Kyoko blinked.

Daisuke gave her a pained look. "Takarada-taichou told me that before I can start making repairs to my image in the industry I needed to learn the finer points of kindness and love. That's why I'm wearing this thing…"

He tugged at the brilliant pink uniform.

"Do you want to be an actor, Miwa-san?" Kyoko asked.

"I want to learn how to manage in show business," he replied. "Father has been good friends with Takarada-taichou for a long time and asked him to see if he could help me out. He did this…"

Daisuke grimaced.

"Well, it's not necessarily all bad…" Kyoko said.

"Liar," he grumbled.

Kyoko giggled in spite of herself. "No, really it's not. Though I'm very glad not to be wearing one as much…"

Daisuke looked like he wanted to say something else, but Mia arrived with answers. "They are still keeping you on this campaign as well, but they feel like they need a little more diversification so they've brought on Mako Arai and Yuuko Fukui."

"Two models?" Kyoko blinked.

Mia nodded. "I'm not sure if they're permanent or just for this campaign. They did expand the line quite a bit for this season."

They made their way to the set and Kyoko was met by the younger Takanori. "My brother insisted on the other two models even though I said you were fine," he said apologetically. "I am so sorry, Kyoko-san…"

Kyoko shook her head, the words _elegant, calm, serene, graceful_ running through her head, but not escaping her lips this time. "Don't worry about it, Takanori-san," Kyoko said. "I will continue to work towards the perfection that your brother wishes."

The younger Takanori left and Kyoko noticed that there was still a slight frown on Mia's serene face. "Is something else wrong, Mia-san?" she asked.

Mia glanced over at her. "I wouldn't say 'wrong' precisely," she said. "I'm just puzzled. The addition of Fukui-san makes sense as she is also a relatively new face in the industry and, to be truthful; putting the two of you in the same photoshoot makes marketing sense. With you both appearing in 'Windows' and with the publicity that is already being generated by both Tsuruga-san being in the cast and the fact that Makoto Miyano is finally doing the full season drama her fans want to see. I am puzzled about Mako Arai-san though."

"I'm afraid that's my fault, Mia."

It was Mariah Akizaki's cheerful voice and Kyoko turned and saw the older woman making her way towards them. She was already in full Mako Arai get-up from long black hair to the make-up. "What do you mean?" Mia inquired.

"Well, they actually approached my agency a while ago about the Chameleon contract, but we initially turned them down," Mariah said. "Apparently Takanori-san is a fan of mine and asked on the slim chance I would say yes and when we said no, they went with the younger Takanori-san's idea for less known faces. However, when it came out they were looking for a couple new models for the current campaign I decided I wouldn't mind seeing Kyoko-san in action for real and asked my manager to approach them."

"Why?" Mia frowned. "Your schedule was already overbooked as it was…"

Mariah shook her head. "One of the contracts got postponed indefinitely due to some legal issues. This fit nicely in the sudden open space in the schedule and I figured if I could see Kyoko-san in action I may be able to help her more with her modeling plus Alex and the others on the 'Come to Me' set said she was an absolute joy to work with so I figured I'd see for myself."

Kyoko blinked. "Because of me?" she almost squeaked.

Mariah smiled. "Your reputation is spreading, Kyoko-san," she said. "If you keep up the way you're going it's going to be a different world for you very soon."

There was a call for Mako and Mariah bowed a bit towards them. "Please treat me kindly," she said and dashed off to where the HMUA was.

###

After the first part of the shoot was complete, Kyoko was in the back seat going over the scenes that Miyano-san told Mia they'd be working on instead of the park scene due to the rain.

When they arrived at the studio there was an ambulance outside and Kyoko was out of the car almost before Miwa-san brought it to a full stop. She was stopped at the door by an officer. "I'm sorry, Miss, but you can't go in there right now, authorized personnel only…"

"Kyoko-san!"

There was a wail and Miyako Miwa burst through the officers and practically flung herself at Kyoko. "Miwa-sama…" the officer began.

Kyoko hugged the girl instinctively and frowned. "What's wrong Miwa-san?" she asked.

"One of the sets fell over while Tsuruga-san was near it…" Miyako said.

Kyoko felt her face pale. "What?"

Mia and Daisuke chose that moment to walk up and Mia looked at the officer. "What is going on?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty…" the officer began.

"Let them in," a gruff voice said.

The officer glanced over his shoulder at the large man who spoke. "Captain…"

"Did I stutter?" he asked.

"Ah, no…" the officer replied in a flustered voice and bowed. "My apologies, please enter."

"Make sure you keep the press out though!" the captain shouted.

"Yes, sir."

Miyako pulled back from Kyoko and grabbed her hand, guiding her inside. "Is Ren—Tsuruga-san all right?" Kyoko asked.

"Why don't you ask me yourself, Kyoko?"

Ren's voice echoed and Kyoko's head snapped in the direction of the voice and she released Miyako's hand and raced across the intervening space, not even paying attention to the staff racing around. Ren caught her in a gentle hug. "I'm fine," he assured her. "I was just walking around on the set we were going to be using today and one of the walls fell," he said. "They're investigating what caused it right now."

"But your head…" Kyoko said.

Ren touched the white bandage circling his head. "It was just a scratch and a bump," he said, "nothing serious."

There was a look in his eyes that made Kyoko shudder—there was something he wasn't telling her.


	16. Between Takes

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** I'm incredibly sorry about the lateness of this particular chapter. I was supposed to be releasing chapter seventeen tomorrow not just getting chapter sixteen up today. Unfortunately, offline life has been taking over all the time I usually use to write and it's put me behind on all of my projects. I regret to say that I will be taking a hiatus from much of my online life for the duration of March. I need this month to get everything put back together that fell apart and I'm nearly out of Hello Kitty duct tape and cope.

As always, Skip Beat! isn't mine nor are the characters (except for my original ones), but this story line is mine as are the associated things that I come up with that play into it.

I feel like this chapter wasn't up to my usual snuff, but I couldn't go on a hiatus without at least giving you guys something.

Thank you for reading (and reviewing if you get a chance) this fic of mine.

The next update will be some time in April and I hope to be back on a schedule to make Ren proud.

Thank you in advance for your patience, you guys are awesome.

Much love,

Yuki

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen: Between Takes**

"Filming is cancelled today while they do a safety inspection of all the sets."

Mia made the announcement after Kyoko bid the manager to enter her dressing room. "You don't have anything scheduled until _Yappa Kimagure Rock_ , would you like to go to school for your afternoon classes?" she inquired.

Kyoko's first instinct was to say yes, but the doorway behind Mia filled with the large form of Ren Tsuruga. Mia glanced over her shoulder at the tall actor and then back to Kyoko and murmured something that was likely 'please forgive the intrusion' and exited the room.

The door shut behind Mia and Kyoko was caught in a glare that only she ever saw from Ren Tsuruga—the one that only appeared at the moment that the actor was comple tely furious and let his façade crack.

"Tsu—Ren…" Kyoko watched him nervously.

"What happened last night, Kyoko?" Ren asked coldly.

"Last night?" Kyoko was confused. "Nothing, after filming I went straight home and…"

"Something happened," Ren stated and his expression gentled a bit. "In your voice mail to me to let me know you were headed home you sounded almost like you did when you ran into the Beagle at Karuizawa, but you didn't mention anything when you called me back."

Kyoko's eyes dropped and Princess Rosa caught the light and she took a deep breath. She wanted to deny the claim, but she knew that Ren would see right through her. "You probably don't remember, but I had a denim jacket that disappeared when my room was ransacked. It was in a box on my dressing room table when I came in to change after we finished filming last night…"

Ren took the two steps to close the distance between them and caught her shoulders. Kyoko lifted her eyes to meet his. "It's stupid for something like that to worry me. The jacket itself is fine, it just has ink splotches on it, I told Mia-san that I could fix it so it's usable again…"

"Throw it away," Ren rumbled, pulling her in close to him. "If you can't get a new one right now, I'll get you one. We can shop for it after they dismiss us for the day…"

Kyoko's gut reaction was to flare up at him as she had when Mia suggested the same thing. "But wouldn't shopping with me cause problems?" she asked.

Ren stroked her hair gently. "We can figure it out," he said.

"It's a perfectly serviceable jacket," Kyoko said. "I just have to put a little bit of work into it and it will be fine again."

She stepped back. "Is your head all right still?"

"Yes," he answered. "Head wounds bleed a lot even if they aren't serious. I'm just glad we decided to look at things before you got here."

"Why?" Kyoko frowned.

Ren seemed unable to resist tucking a loose strand of chestnut hair behind her ear and seemed to think for a long moment before he responded. "If we'd gone forward with the filming without the check, the wall would've fallen on you while you were trapped in the wheelchair that Clara uses or Miwa-san when she makes her initial appearance in the drawing room of the Kinoshita mansion. There would've been more than minor wounds at that point."

"But who…why?" Kyoko asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out right now," Ren answered. "The production company is not happy with the delay in today's filming; we'll be doing extra hours tomorrow as schedules permit to make up for it, but Miyano-san ordered that every piece of the set be inspected to make sure there are no more problems."

"Do you think that someone is after Miwa-san?" Kyoko asked.

"We're not sure if it was deliberate sabotage or not," Ren said. "It easily could just be regular wear and tear. The sets have to be maintained just like anything else. That's what they're guessing right now."

Kyoko tilted her head looking at Ren for a long moment. "You don't think so though," she concluded.

"I don't know, Kyoko," Ren stated. "This studio has a reputation for upholding the highest safety standards in the business. It seems a little unlikely they would let a set degrade enough to result in it falling over like it did today."

"I could just be a defective part," Kyoko suggested.

"You're probably right," Ren agreed.

A knock on the door preceded Mia Akizaki's arrival and the blond woman glanced between the two. "Would you two be interested in going to a café near here for lunch with Yashiro-san and me?" she inquired. "It doesn't look like they'll get the inspections done in time for us to get anything filmed and it's still raining outside so we can't try and do any of the early outside scenes. Mogami-san only has filming for _Yappa Kimagure Rock_ tonight and we don't have to be at the studio until seven."

"If we all go together it won't raise too many eyebrows with the press," Yashiro added coming in behind Mia.

Mia nodded in agreement and the two actors exchanged a look. "Let's go," Ren decided.

"And what if I wanted to go to school?" Kyoko questioned suddenly irritated that everyone seemed to be making her decisions for her.

She folded her arms over her chest and glared at the managers and the actor. "Well, if I don't eat now, I may not find time to do it later…" Ren murmured.

Kyoko's gaze shot to the dark-haired man and then she looked at Yashiro. "We're going to lunch to make sure that Tsuruga-san gets a proper meal," she declared, "but I'm going to school afterwards."

Mia nodded. "I'll have Miwa-san drive and we'll meet Yashiro-san and Tsuruga-san at the café," she said.

Kyoko went and collected her things and followed Mia out of the dressing room a little while after Ren and Yashiro-san left.

"Mogami-san!"

The echo of her name startled her and she turned to see a young man rushing towards her. It took several moments before Kyoko managed to place his face. Naoki Akiyama was the actor who would be playing Sakura Yamaguchi's boyfriend until Clara had him killed at the midseason climax. "May I help you Akiyama-san?" she asked.

"Miyano-san asked me to drop off the new filming schedule to you," he said and handed her a folder. "We'll be filming our first scene together tomorrow even though we don't meet until the third episode."

Kyoko nodded. "Thank you, Akiyama-san; I'll look forward to working with you."

"Mogami-san, we need to go get lunch if you intend to make your afternoon classes," Mia reminded her.

Kyoko nodded and bowed. "Good work today," she said and was swept out of the studio by her manager.

Miwa-san held the door open for her and Kyoko got into the car and fastened her seatbelt before opening the folder. She flipped through it memorizing which of her scenes she needed to work on. "We're filming at the park tomorrow?" Kyoko frowned. "Doesn't it still say it's going to rain in the forecast tomorrow?"

"May I?" Mia asked and Kyoko handed the folder over.

"Akiyama-san said that Miyano-san gave that to him to hand to me," Kyoko said.

"Odd," Mia murmured. "Miyano-san knew where to find Miwa-san or me."

"He may have just been passing that way and Miyano-san asked him to do it," Kyoko suggested.

"Possibly," Mia said.

Kyoko didn't have a chance to ask for elaboration on the comment as they pulled up at the café Mia mentioned. They entered and were immediately ushered to a private room in the back where Ren and Yashiro-san were waiting.

"What's that?" Yashiro-san asked.

"Kyoko's shooting schedule tomorrow," Mia said.

"I thought Miyano-san was going to have those delivered later this afternoon," Yashiro said. "Or at least that's what she told me when she asked for my schedule."

"I heard the same," Mia said.

They settled down at the table and the elderly woman who ran the establishment came through the door to serve the actors and their managers. Kyoko barely looked at the menu, ordering the first thing that sounded good within her diet that she ran into when it was her turn, and focused on the cup of tea in front of her. "Do you think if it was sabotage, they're after Miwa-san?" Kyoko asked.

"At present we're looking at it as the accident it was," Mia said. "We don't have enough evidence to point at foul play. Believe me; they're going over those sets with a fine tooth comb to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the project."

"But what if someone's trying to get at Miwa-san?" Kyoko pressed.

"We're not going to draw preemptive conclusions until we have more evidence, Kyoko-chan," Yashiro said sternly.

"Mogami-san, please relax for the time being," Mia said quietly.

Kyoko's mind was still going a million miles a minute, but she gave thanks to the acting classes that allowed her to keep it out of her expression and carry on a conversation as normal. Lunch came and conversation progressed to other aspects of work and Kyoko asked Ren what work he had this afternoon—he'd only been slated to film through the early afternoon due to previous commitments. Ren asked her about the photoshoot and Kyoko told him about the two new models and gushed about the clothes that were coming out, keeping herself firmly within the boundaries of her nondisclosure clause.

After lunch, they went their separate ways and Kyoko was dropped off at her school by Miwa-san and Mia. "Miwa-san will be picking you up from school to take you to get dinner before you head to TBM for filming," Mia informed her. "I have a few meetings I need to attend and I'm not sure I'll get back in time. Miwa-san is to be with you at all times, Mogami-san, except when you're in front of the camera or using the restroom. While the incidents at the studio are being considered accidents, I'd rather you not be alone. I will call you later this evening with tomorrow's schedule after I make adjustments to it to compensate for the change in the Windows schedule."

Kyoko nodded and murmured her good-byes to the manager and PA and vanished into the school.

###

As promised, Daisuke Miwa was waiting when Kyoko exited the front gate and she ducked into the relative protection of the four door sedan that he was driving. Mimori Nanokura apparently heard about the fact that Kyoko was on the same set as Sho Fuwa during her last job and reacted with more than her usual antagonism. Mimori and her cronies hadn't let Kyoko have a moment's peace for the duration of the classes until the teacher told them to sit down and be quiet.

"Are you all right, Mogami-san?" Daisuke asked.

Kyoko jumped as his voice pulled her out of her dark ruminations. "I'm fine," she lied and glanced out the window. "Where are we going? TBM isn't this way."

"I'm taking you to eat first," Daisuke said. "Akizaki-san instructed me to make sure you ate before you went to the studio."

"There are plenty of restaurants on the way…" Kyoko trailed off as they pulled up next to Darumaya and her eyes flew up to meet his in the rearview mirror.

Daisuke's smile flashed for a moment and he got out and went around to the side and opened the door for her. The back door of the restaurant opened revealing Okamisan in her usual kimono. For a moment Kyoko froze and then her eyes filled with tears and she bolted across the intervening space and straight into the Okamisan's comforting arms.

Taisho was behind Okamisan and Kyoko vaguely heard Miwa-san say that he'd be back for her in about an hour and a half. She heard a car door slam and the car start back up, but she didn't hear it pull away as she was led into the backroom of the restaurant that she knew so well and urged to sit down.

Kyoko realized that it had been weeks since she'd seen the couple from the Darumaya, but it felt like no time passed at all as they fell into their usual habits. They talked about all the events over the past several weeks and they seemed very pleased to hear about all the things going on in her professional life. The time passed all too quickly and Okamisan admonished Kyoko not to make it so long before her next visit and gave her a boxed lunch for her to eat later.

Daisuke held open the door for her. "Do you feel better now, Mogami-san?" he asked as Kyoko settled into the back.

Kyoko was startled for a moment and realized that she was feeling better. "Yes, thank you," she said. "Did Mia-san…"

Daisuke shook his head. "Akizaki-san only told me to make sure you ate," he said. "I thought going back 'home' for a little bit might help you some. I've heard you talk fondly about this restaurant and the owners and you seemed to need the reprieve from the storm."

Kyoko smiled almost shyly at him and Daisuke shut the door and moved to the front to get in.

The streetlights flickered over the bright pink of his Love Me coverall and Kyoko suddenly remembered. "When we get to the studio can you give me your book, Miwa-san?" she asked.

"Sure, why?" he asked.

Kyoko smiled. "You'll see."

They arrived at the parking structure and Kyoko got out of the car and Daisuke reluctantly handed over the infamous book that Kyoko knew so well and she extracted a pen from her bag. "I don't have any proper stamps, but this should work," she said and jotted something down and handed it back to him.

 _+1000 points. Mogami._


	17. Dangerous Risks & Stolen Time

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** Welcome back to Transparent Wings. Thank you all for being understanding. I feel like this chapter is a little rough, but it gets me most of the way to where I'm going ^^;

I apologize that it took me so long to have an update for you and this one almost didn't happen because I was stupid and spilled Dr. Pepper all over my keyboard. Thankfully I got it cleaned up enough to at least get the last parts typed up. After I post this, I'm going to be running off to grab some warm soapy water and Q-Tips and make it so that my keys don't stick-but first this update ^_^

I expect to have the next chapter done around August 17th (I know it's just under a month, but I've still got some residual off-line stuff to deal with *wry smile*), if I get it done before then I'll think about posting it.

As always, Skip Beat! isn't mine, I just like playing in the world. The original characters, the storyline, and the various other things I created for this are mine though ^_^

Thank you again for taking the time to read (and review if you get a chance) this chapter.

I appreciate every one of you.

~ Yuki

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen: Dangerous Risks and Stolen Time**

Kyoko got out of bed just after 6 AM and headed to the kitchen to fix breakfast. She pulled her phone off the charger and looked through the notifications from the previous night and noted a voicemail from Mia. She settled down at the table with her food and lifted the phone to her ear.

"Please disregard the schedule given to you when you left the studio yesterday," Mia said. "I received a schedule from Miyano-san late yesterday afternoon at the office. As it stands, it looks like you will have time to attend your morning classes at school today, then in the early afternoon we'll be at the Seventh Street Park for filming some of the first outside scenes—the weather is already clearing tonight and it should be sunny and mostly dry at the time of filming. I have a doctor's appointment this morning to have my wrist looked at so Miwa-san will be picking you up and driving you to school at the usual time. After filming we'll be changing into cocktail apparel and attending a soiree at the Palisades Hotel where you'll meet the director for the other project you selected in addition to Windows and a few other notables. If everything goes as planned we should have you home around 10 pm.

I've sent a list of the scenes you'll have to go over again in the script before filming starts. It'll be in your e-mail by the time you hear this message. Have a good night, Mogami-san."

Kyoko replayed the message, checked her email, and made notes in her notebook then turned her attention to breakfast. Her eyes strayed to the folder she'd placed on the counter the night before and after she'd taken care of the breakfast dishes, she picked it up and opened it. According to what was written in the schedule she'd gotten yesterday, there was going to be a scene filmed not too far from the school. She tapped her finger on the location for a moment and then nodded to herself and headed for her room to get into her school uniform.

She was out at the curb when Miwa-san pulled up and got out of the car. "Good morning, Mogami-san," he greeted her.

"Good morning," Kyoko smiled and he opened the door.

"Akizaki-san is expecting things to go smoothly at the doctor's this morning and intends to be there to pick you up this afternoon while I run an errand to get some clothing for the party tonight for both of you," he announced.

"Okay," Kyoko said and settled in the seat.

Daisuke shut the door, and Kyoko turned her attention to the scripts for the scenes she'd be working on today. Her homework for the week had been finished the night she received it in between takes. The drive to the school was made in companionable silence and Kyoko waved at Daisuke before going through the gates of the school. She hunted down the faculty office and was allowed in to see the teachers where she turned in her work and explained that she had work come up and wanted to make sure that everything was in on time.

The teachers accepted the homework and gave her the next lists of assignments to work on while she was working and Kyoko dodged Mimori and her lackeys by ducking down another hall. She exited the school and went out the side gate because it was open today and flagged down a taxi. She gave the address she needed to go and the cab took off. Arriving at the destination she paid for it and slipped out, her eyes going to the park. While it was technically listed as one of the potential filming places, it was very quiet, but she hadn't expected otherwise.

"Mogami-san, you do realize you're at the wrong park, don't you?"

Kyoko froze at the smooth voice behind her and turned slowly, finding herself momentarily blinded by Ren Tsuruga's 'gentleman's smile'. "Tsu-tsuruga-san…" she stuttered.

Ren's long strides covered the distance between them before Kyoko could convince her legs to move. "What are you trying to do, Kyoko?"

The gentleman's smile shattered and there was a look in Ren's eyes that made Kyoko's heart pound. "I was just following the schedule…"

"That Akizaki-san told you to disregard," Ren interrupted.

"Tsu-Ren, I…" Kyoko hastily corrected the address as his expression darkened.

"Come, Mogami-san," Ren said quietly and his arm settled heavily around her shoulders and Kyoko knew she wasn't going to get anywhere else.

"What are you doing here?" Kyoko finally asked.

"Akizaki-san phoned Yashiro last night," Ren said. "She was correct to assume that you'd likely try and do something foolish."

"What's so foolish about wanting to figure out who is messing with the filming?" Kyoko flared, jerking away from Ren and stepping ahead of him to glare up at him.

"That is the reason we have the police and investigators, Kyoko," Ren stated. "There is no need to put yourself in danger."

"I'm not putting anyone in danger!" Kyoko snapped.

"Are you sure about that, Kyoko?" Ren asked quietly. "You keep bringing up Miwa Miyako and worrying that they're targeting her, but you're the one whose room was ransacked. You're also the one who found the jacket that disappeared from your room on your dressing table when we started filming. That piece of set was more likely to fall on you than it was Miwa-san. What part of this are you not getting?"

"Why would they be after someone like me, I'm…" Kyoko began.

"If you say one word about being an unknown or anything along those lines, I'll kiss you and any witnesses can be damned," Ren growled.

Kyoko's eyes flew around and she noted that they'd entered a more populated area of the park. "Ren, we've got to get out of here before anyone recognizes you. Where's Yashiro?"

"At the office," Ren said. "I came on my own."

Kyoko tried to figure out what her next step was, but her grudges were still out so Ren was still angry. He guided her silently to his car and pushed her into the front seat and went around to the driver's side and settled in. "So, would you like me to escort you back to school?" he asked. "Or would you rather I tell you about some of the things the investigators did find."

Kyoko's head snapped in Ren's direction. "They found something?"

"Yes and if you'd stuck to the proper schedule, Akizaki-san would've told you about it when she picked you up from school," Ren replied.

"What did they find?" Kyoko asked.

Ren shifted the gears and the car merged into traffic and Kyoko realized they weren't going towards the school. "Ren, my school is…" she began.

Ren's gaze met hers briefly and Kyoko realized that his eyes were his natural green not the dark brown she usually affiliated with Ren Tsuruga. "I forgot to put in my contacts before I left for the park this morning," he said. "You've already put in your appearance at school and it will look suspicious if you suddenly come back even if you say the filming for the morning was canceled."

"But…" Kyoko began.

"I don't have anything until we start filming for Windows this afternoon. Most of what's on the schedule today happens after that," Ren replied. "If I keep you with me until filming, I can make sure you don't try and sneak out again."

Kyoko slumped in her seat. "What did they find?" she asked.

"I'll tell you when we get to my apartment," he said. "I had to leave before I ate breakfast to get to the park before the supposed filming was going to happen."

Guilt curled in the pit of Kyoko's stomach. Because of her Tsuruga-san hadn't eaten yet today and was risking discovery by not putting in his contacts. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

Ren gave her a sidelong look when they stopped at a traffic light. He sighed. "Kyoko, for my sanity please don't try and play the knight in shining armor in this," he said quietly. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to you."

"I wasn't—" Kyoko began and trailed off.

She fidgeted in the silence that followed as the car purred through the Tokyo streets. They finally pulled into the parking garage and Kyoko scrambled out of the car. She went to the elevator ahead of Ren and slid the card he'd given her through. The doors opened just as he reached it and they stepped in.

The silence remained heavy all the way up to Ren's floor and they exited the elevator. Ren went to the door and unlocked it, holding it open for Kyoko. Kyoko passed through the portal almost reluctantly and headed immediately to the kitchen.

"I'll make breakfast for you. Please finish getting ready Tsuruga-san," she said quickly.

Ren didn't respond immediately so she turned around and saw the actor followed her into the kitchen. There was a look on his face that Kyoko wasn't quite sure how to translate, the grudges had subsided a little bit so Ren was calmer, but she was still at a bit of a loss. He reached up and cupped her jaw. "Kyoko," he spoke her name softly.

Her breath jammed in her throat and he lowered his head and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'll go finish getting ready now," he said and turned to head to his bedroom.

Kyoko took a deep trembling breath. If he kept doing things like that every defense she ever created was going to fall over and there'd be nothing left between her and the foolish girl in love she used to be.

She set about making breakfast and had something decent whipped up by the time Ren exited his room. His contacts were in place as well as the mask that was Ren Tsuruga and he helped set the table. They sat down and Kyoko settled across from him with a bowl of miso soup so that he wasn't eating alone. After a few minutes Ren spoke up. "The investigators looked into the background of the production staff and found out that one of them has a history of problems on the sets he's worked on," Ren said. "Most of the incidents have been buried somehow, but now that they've been found again there is a general notification going out. He was arrested late last night and has been let go from the staff. It's unlikely he will be able to find another job in the industry any time soon."

"So it's done?" Kyoko asked.

Ren nodded. "We think so. He was in the position to perpetrate all the problems we had on the set and if he hadn't been arrested, it would have been easy for him to be in the park where the false schedule you were given said for you to be."

"So why didn't Akizaki-san just say that in the message?" Kyoko asked crankily.

"It was partly my fault," Ren admitted. "I wanted to be the one to tell you about what happened. I also wanted to take advantage of the fact I had a free morning and you wouldn't be in school if you decided to play knight in shining armor."

Kyoko paused. "You wanted to spend your morning with me?" she repeated.

Ren cocked his head. "Is it unusual to want to spend time with the one you like?" he asked.

Kyoko felt her face explode into color and her eyes dropped to the soup in front of her, locks of chestnut hair brushing against her cheeks. She was shocked they didn't catch fire. "I…" she trailed off, unable to formulate a decent thought.

Ren reached across the table and gently pushed some of the hair out of her face. "Would you really rather I returned you to school?" he asked quietly.

Kyoko watched the depths of her bowl wishing an answer would appear. On one hand, she was absolutely thrilled to be able to spend some extra time with Tsuruga-san, but on the other hand, every moment she spent in his company contributed to the crumbling cliff under her feet. She had no desire to become a useless girl again.

Her hands clenched into fists for a moment and he sighed. "I'll take you to school after breakfast," he said quietly.

Kyoko's eyes shot up to meet his and she thought she saw sadness for an instant before it was hidden in one of Tsuruga-san's familiar, irritating smiles.

"Don't smile at me unless you mean it," she snapped.

She clapped her hand to her mouth and regarded the older actor with a horrified look in her eyes. "I…" she began.

Tsuruga-san's smile faded. "I won't as long as you can promise me the same," he stated. "Allow yourself to be upset or scared or any other emotions in between and share them with me. Don't forget I know the Kyoko that cried about not getting perfect grades to please her mother and the Kyoko who cried because she was lonely and it doesn't change how I feel."

"But…" Kyoko trailed off.

"Out there, we're actors," Ren said almost seeming to read her mind. "We have the masks we've perfected for the public. We have appearances to maintain and it's fine. Here in my apartment or at yours or when we're alone somewhere that others can't see us, just be Kyoko and I'll just be Kuon."

Kyoko's hands fell to her lap and clenched together as she turned his words over in her head. Even before she was an actress she'd worn masks for so long—the smile to hide all the pain and hurt every time Sho came home smelling like another girl, the perfect hostess in both the ryokan in Kyoto and at Darumaya—she wasn't even sure she knew completely who she was yet.

"I'll try," she finally said.

"Then I'll try to do the same," Ren replied. "Did you want to return to school?"

Kyoko thought about it for a long moment and then shook her head. She had her assignments for the day. "Y-you don't mind if I do work on some homework though, do you?" she asked hesitantly.

A genuine smile curved Tsuruga-san's lips. "No, I don't mind," he said.

The rest of the morning was spent in quiet companionship as Kyoko started wading through the homework assignments while Tsuruga-san read a book in between reviewing scripts for the day.

Idly, Kyoko realized that she wouldn't mind more time like this with Tsuruga-san.

#

They grabbed lunch at a small restaurant that Ren informed Kyoko would keep their presence quiet before they headed to the set. When they arrived at the set, Mia had arrived with Yashiro and Daisuke and the two lead actors were immediately ushered into dressing rooms after being informed that Miyako would be arriving a little late as a variety show she'd been roped into attending ran long.

While the hair and make-up artists started transforming Kyoko into Clara Kinoshita, Mia helped Kyoko go through some of her lines and a few small scenes to help her get into the mindset for the sickly villain of _Windows._ Mia definitely wasn't an actress, but Kyoko appreciated the time and effort that the blond put in to try and help her out.

The afternoon's filming went off without a hitch and Kyoko changed into the clothing Daisuke brought for her. She exited the dressing room and found herself drawn into a conversation with some of the other actors and actresses about acting and various other things within show business. There was a brief touch on the gossip about what happened to the production assistant that had been arrested and canned, but most of them seemed more eager to talk about the next few days of filming and Kyoko happily went along with it.

Kyoko noted Mia waving to her on the other side of the crew gathering up the equipment and bowed to her companions. "I'm afraid I must go, I have another appointment to take care of," she said.

"Good luck!"

"Break a leg!"

Kyoko couldn't help but smile a bit at the well wishes and started heading towards Mia.

"Please allow me to walk you there?"

Kyoko jumped and glanced at the speaker. Naoki Akiyama smiled at her. "A gentleman always escorts a lady," he said smoothly.

Kyoko smiled. "Thank you for your kindness," she said. "I'll be all right though…"

"Please allow me to," Naoki asked giving her a smile. "I fear I have ulterior motives for the offer."

"Oh?" Kyoko asked.

"Do you have some free time tomorrow?" Naoki inquired.

Kyoko thought over her schedule. "Possibly, why?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to rehearse a little with me," Naoki asked. "I'm having some trouble grasping Jun's character and thought maybe if I worked with you it would help…"

Kyoko blinked. Someone was asking her for help acting?

"I can probably arrange to get to the set early if you'd like, Akiyama-san," she offered.

"Please let me know!" Naoki said and pulled out a card and handed it to Kyoko.

She looked startled.

"It's my business card, it has my e-mail on it so you can get back to me at your convenience," he explained.

Kyoko inclined her head. "I'll let you know as soon as I know," she promised.

"Thank you Kyoko-san!" he beamed and departed just shy of reaching Mia.

"What was that about?" Mia inquired curiously as they made their way to the car.

"Nothing really," Kyoko said. "Who is going to be at the party tonight?"

Mia immediately started going into what she knew of the guest list and Kyoko listened, nodding occasionally as they stepped into the car.


	18. The Call

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** I will fully admit that the time I usually devote to writing (fan fiction as well as original stuff) has completely been sucked into World of Warcraft since the beginning of August and, last night, the Legion (newest expansion of World of Warcraft) ate my soul. Before that, July and August tend to be bad months for me and I have a hard time getting motivated to do anything, even things I love, for most of those months.

For now, I'm going to stop giving dates that the new chapters are going to drop-the stories will be finished, this I can promise. I just am not able to stick to my deadlines right now and I'm tired of breaking my promises (I'm not usually one for doing that).

Skip Beat isn't mine it's Yoshiki Nakamura's. The original characters and other related items created for this story are mine.

Thank you very much for sticking with my story, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Until next time!

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen: The Call**

Ren's cell phone rang as he waited in the car for Yashiro to return with food from the convenience store. He didn't recognize the number, but picked it up anyway. "Tsuruga," he said.

"Tsuruga-san, I apologize for calling you on your personal phone, but Yashiro-san wasn't picking up," the quiet voice on the other line said.

It took him a moment to recognize the voice on the other end. "Akizaki-san?" he said.

"Yes," Mia Akizaki said. "Is Mogami-san there with you? Her phone is going straight to voicemail—she may have forgotten to charge it last night. I got her home much later than intended."

"Why would Mogami-san be with me?" Ren asked carefully, his hand tightening around his phone.

"Mogami-san said that she was meeting up with a fellow actor for breakfast before going to the studio," Mia said. "I take it she isn't there?"

"No, she is not," Ren said quietly.

He could have sworn he heard the normally ladylike manager swear in about five different languages. "I will be heading to the studio now. She never showed up at the set for filming this morning," Mia said. "I'll call again with what I find."

She hung up and Ren stared at his phone for a moment before hanging up and calling Kyoko's number himself. As Mia said, the call went straight to voicemail and Ren left a quiet message asking Kyoko to call him as soon as possible. Yashiro got into the car moments later and Ren spoke quietly. "How much do we have on the schedule before the Windows filming?" he said.

"After we finish here there's nothing until we get to the Windows filming location," Yashiro said. "Is something wrong?"

"Akizaki-san called me looking for Kyoko after you didn't pick up," Ren said.

"What?" Yashiro exclaimed and hauled his phone out. "It didn't ring at all…"

Ren growled something beneath his breath and slammed the car into gear. "If the phone rings, answer it," he said shortly.

Yashiro nodded slowly and took Ren's phone in his gloved hand as the actor navigated the streets to their last morning appointment. Ren managed to pull through the job with his usual class, but as soon as they were in the car Yashiro passed the phone over to him and he called the number Mia contacted him with.

"Akizaki."

The voice this time wasn't Mia's. "May I speak to Akizaki Mia-san please," Ren requested.

"Mia's currently interviewing some of the security at the studio, is this Tsuruga-san?"

"Yes. Who is this?"

"I'm Alex," the person on the other end stated. "My sister was with me this morning when they called to see where Kyoko-san was. Her phone met with an unfortunate fate at my nephew's hands this morning. We're currently at the studio; the security saw Kyoko-san here early this morning, but she didn't arrive as scheduled on the set."

"We're on our way over. Don't leave before I get there," Ren ordered.

"I'll do my best," Alex replied.

Ren broke several traffic laws and pulled up in front of the studio as two blondes emerged from the doors. He immediately recognized Mia and assumed that the young man next to her was Alex. "What's going on?" he demanded quietly.

"Mogami-san told me that she was meeting up with a fellow actor for breakfast and to not worry about picking her up this morning," Mia said. "I assumed, erroneously, that the actor was you and she was being circumspect because we were in public and people could overhear. There were only a few people in the studio when she arrived this morning and we're hunting them down for questioning. Fukui-san and Akiyama-san were both on the premises as well and they aren't anywhere to be found either."

Ren frowned at the mention of the other two younger cast members. "What about Miwa-san?" he asked.

"My sister is at another job this morning and wasn't going to be here until later this morning," Daisuke Miwa stated. "Akizaki-san, they found Fukui-san."

"Where?" Mia demanded.

"In one of the unused dressing rooms with one of the cameramen," Daisuke said. "They'd apparently arranged a tryst and then got scared at all the activity. She didn't even know that Mogami-san was on the premises this morning."

"Can that be proven?" Mia frowned.

"There is—ah—evidence they were quite occupied for a while," Daisuke said delicately, his cheeks flushing just a bit.

"And Akiyama?" Ren bit out.

"We're still looking for him," Daisuke said. "The head of security is reviewing the surveillance cameras and seeing if they can find anything that will give an answer to his whereabouts. He's supposed to be here at 1 PM to film some scenes with Miyako."

Ren glanced at the schedule on the wall. "He didn't have any scenes this morning?"

Mia shook her head. "No, but he has been known to show up early to studios and practice his lines off set. Right now they're working with that assumption, but we're investigating if he's going to be in any way tied to Mogami-san's disappearance. We've put a call out to his manager, but haven't received a response yet."

###

"Where is Kyoko?"

Ren managed to keep his voice pleasant even as the Naoki Akiyama jumped at the sound of his voice. The young man turned to face him and gave in an inquiring look. "Kyoko-san?" he repeated. "She should already be in the studio shouldn't she?"

"She was seen leaving with you this morning and she never made it back to the set to start filming," Mia stated quietly.

"Mogami-san was kind enough to practice with me this morning and I treated her to breakfast afterwards," Akiyama said. "She said she was coming back to the studio and I was heading to a gym for my morning workout so I haven't seen her since. Has something happened?"

Ren met the gray-green eyes of Alex Akizaki over the actor's head and noticed a slight furrow between the blonde's eyebrows. "She never returned to the studio," Mia repeated.

Akiyama's eyes went wide. "She played hooky?" he gaped.

Ren's hand clenched in a fist and he resisted the urge to drive it into Akiyama's face.

"I sincerely doubt Kyoko-san would do something like that," Alex stated. "Anyone who's worked with her would tell you the same."

"Maybe you think too highly of Kyoko-san," Akiyama said and brushed by them haughtily.

Ren whirled and his arm was caught by Yashiro and he glanced down at the manager. "Ren, an altercation on set for you would cause even more problems than Fukui-san is about to face," Yashiro said quietly. "We have to stay calm. The police will pull him in for questioning too."

"We _will_ find Mogami-san, Tsuruga-san," Mia stated.

"I'm coming with you."


	19. An Elegant Demise

**AUTHOR'S NOTES: Hello! I'm back at least for a round of updates. Finished this one first and figured I'd get it posted ^_^**

 **There's just a couple chapters left of this one and I'm looking to get it finished up over the course of this month. I intend to drop the next chapter around March 30th (yes, I'm giving myself deadlines again).**

 **Thank you so much for sticking around and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **(Oh yeah, Skip Beat! is the property of Yoshiki Nakamura, but the original characters and story line are mine).**

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 **Chapter Nineteen: An Elegant Demise**

The soft rush of waves over a beach was the first thing that Kyoko could make out as she swam back into consciousness. There was a dull throb in her head and when she shifted she could feel ropes bite into her wrists, ankles, and she was tied securely around the chest to a chair. There was something stuffed in her mouth and she could feel the cloth circling the lower part of her face. Even with her eyes opened everything was still black and she came to the conclusion she was blindfolded.

 _What in the world was going on?_

Kyoko struggled to recollect what happened, but all she remembered was leaving the restaurant with Akiyama Naoki. They'd walked to the corner and separated, Naoki heading towards a gym and Kyoko to the studio so she could make it on time to the filming. She remembered turning a corner and being grabbed, but nothing else after something slammed into her head.

"Oh, you're awake."

Kyoko's head jerked in the direction of the voice and she moaned inadvertently at the pain that ricocheted. "I'm glad you're awake, thought he hit you a little too hard," the voice said.

There was an accent to his voice that Kyoko couldn't place. She wanted to demand where she was, but the gag kept her from speaking.

The sound of footsteps on the floor echoed and she felt the gag loosen and immediately spat out whatever was in her mouth. "Where am I?" she demanded.

"Somewhere that even if you screamed as loud as a banshee you wouldn't be heard," the man said conversationally.

The blindfold was gone next and she stared at water-stained walls of the building in surprise. "A beach?" she said.

"Yeah, in the back end of nowhere where no one is likely to find you. You thirsty?" the man asked.

Kyoko hesitated before answering, a thousand different scenarios running through her head, but she couldn't settle on one. "It's just water, nothing fancy," the guy said. "I'm not sure what that guy wants with a kid like you, but he paid enough money for me to go back home in style so I can't complain. He said you're some two-bit hack of an actress who thinks too highly of herself, but you don't look like any actress I've ever seen. Can plain girls like you really make it in Japanese show business?"

Kyoko glared at him. "I'll have you know I'm going to be Japan's number one actress," she declared. "I'm going to make every person who ever said that I couldn't regret it."

"You'll have to get out of this mess first, luv," the man said dryly and approached with a cup. "Here."

He held the glass to her lips and Kyoko reluctantly drank from it only because her mouth and throat were so dry.

"Why did you kidnap me?" Kyoko demanded.

Her captor shrugged. "They paid me enough to do it," he replied. "Once he gets here with my payment, I'll be washing my hands of this and be on the next available flight home."

"Where is home?" Kyoko asked.

The man grinned. "You think I'm going to tell you that?" he asked. "Desperate men do desperate things, but I'm not so stupid as to tell you where I'm headed from here. On the off chance you escape from whatever the boss has planned, it'd give them too much of a lead to find me and arrest me for kidnapping."

"So you'll be an accessory to murder?" Kyoko demanded.

"You don't know that's what he has in mind and to be frank, I don't give a damn," the man shrugged. "If you don't shut up, I'll gag you again."

"They're going to be looking for me," Kyoko stated.

"And?" the man questioned, arching an eyebrow. "Which part of 'back end of nowhere' didn't you understand?"

The crunch of tires on the gravel interrupted anything Kyoko would've said and the man quickly bound her eyes again and moved away. His footsteps crossed the floor to where Kyoko assumed the door would be and she heard it open and shut. Strain as she might, she couldn't hear anything beyond the door.

The rush of the waves rolling up the beach was the only measure of the time it took between when the man exited and she heard the door open again. This time she didn't hear footsteps cross the floor, but could feel the presence of someone in the room. Whoever it was didn't say anything to start with. She heard some rustling somewhere behind her and her stomach tightened—she had no idea what was going to happen now.

A small part of her wanted to call out for Kuon to find her and she desperately wished she had the stone she affectionately called 'Corn' in her hand to ease her nervousness. The larger part of her was raging at being stuck and at even thinking about reaching out for someone else to help her. Kyoko hadn't developed her strength over the past year or so just to play the helpless lady in distress, she was the knight in shining armor—or she wanted to be anyway.

She twisted her hands in the ropes ignoring the burn of the material biting into her wrist. There had to be a way to get out of this, she was too stubborn to just give up.

"Don't bother, he's a professional."

The words were oddly muffled and Kyoko wondered if the new occupant of the room was attempting to keep their identity from her. "I made sure to check all of his credentials and I was assured he was the best within my budget," the voice continued. "How do you like the last place you'll ever see, Kyoko-sama?"

The man, the voice (even muffled) seemed too deep to be a female, put a mocking twist on the honorific. "I only wish I could have used that ridiculous bright pink uniform of yours as your shroud, but, alas, the window of opportunity was too small to set things up the way I wanted it. I'm sure Mimori-chan won't mind too much once I present her with the evidence you'll no longer be a threat to her."

There was a reverence in the speaker's voice when spoke the other actress's name that sent chills down Kyoko's spine.

"Mimori?" Kyoko repeated.

Even if the Mimori hated her because of Kyoko's supposed relationship with Sho Fuwa, Kyoko doubted that she would be an accessory to a murder—if for nothing else other than the destruction it would wreak on her career if something got screwed up.

Pain exploded in her cheek as the man's hand came into contact with her face. "Don't speak so familiarly!" he shouted. "You're not worthy to be ground under her feet!"

The muffled voice was suddenly clear and Kyoko's eyes widened.

It couldn't be…

…Naoki Akiyama…

Kyoko only barely kept her recognition of the actor's voice to herself, controlling her expression with care and hoping he hadn't seen her in the unguarded moment of realization before she took control of herself again.

"You must refer to her as Nanokura-sama," Naoki ordered her. "She didn't appreciate the necklace when I tried to give it to her, but she'll forgive me for sure for the 'insult' if I tell her she no longer has to worry about you. You've been ridiculously lucky that LME has gotten you such good roles so far, but your luck is about to end. Though I am sure there will be some mourning for what could've been for _Windows_ , but there are likely at least ten other talentos that will be able to play Clara and we're early enough in filming it won't be a big deal to replace you. With you gone, Mimori-chan will easily become the best actress in Japan. She is far more worthy of the title than you ever would've been, but there's been some buzz about you lately and it's starting to cast shadows…I can't let Mimori-chan be overshadowed."

For some reason, Naoki's hand lingered in her hair and Kyoko fought the urge to pull away not wanting to inadvertently push him into action. She was still furiously working at the ropes on her wrists and hoping he didn't notice. He pulled back and she heard the shutter sound of a photo being taken and an indistinguishable murmur she took for satisfaction. She heard his footsteps retreating away from her and heard the door open again.

"It looks like it's about an hour and a half before it's dark enough," Naoki said conversationally. "Be a good girl. I'll be back for you then. The moon should hit just about right to make a beautifully tragic last picture."

Kyoko heard the door open and shut and began working at the ropes harder, not caring now how torn up her wrists got. She knew from experience that injuries to hands and wrists could be hidden while filming, she just hoped the damage from Naoki's earlier slap to her face wasn't lingering. In the intervening time between when he hit her and now, the sting had faded considerably, giving her hope that it wouldn't be too much for make-up to cover once she was free.

Despite what Naoki and the guy who'd originally kidnapped her said, Kyoko maintained hope that she would be in a position to escape when she was found. She knew Mia had ways of getting a lot of information and she hoped that that talent didn't just extend to show business and could be used for other things. Desperately, she tried to keep her mind clear. Her wrists stung like hellfire and she could feel cool air against some kind of liquid on her wrists.

No matter what she did, Kyoko couldn't seem to get her wrists loose enough to free herself from the ropes. She had no idea what was in the room around her because she hadn't had a chance to look around much when she'd originally been freed of the blindfold.

It seemed only moments passed before she heard the door open again. She could smell the brine of the ocean seeping through the door and heard the whistle of the wind.

"It looks like there's a storm moving in," Naoki commented conversationally. "It'll make it much easier for the ocean to claim you and sweep you away when the high tide comes in."

The ropes fell away and Kyoko made to bolt, but was easily caught by the actor before she could take more than a step or two. "Uh-uh, none of that Kyoko," Naoki scolded. "Though really if you managed to escape you wouldn't be able to get too far though I suppose if you got lost trying to find your way back it would suit my purposes as well, but I'd rather be sure of it. It'll be quite the romantic story don't you think? Swept away into the embrace of the sea kami just on the verge of all your dreams coming true…

What kind of face do you think Tsuruga-san will make when he learns of your death?"


End file.
